An Unusual Case
by alittleinsane963
Summary: A Muggle style murder of a Navy Commander's child at Hogwarts? Well, that certainly warrents a call to NCIS!
1. Highly Classified

Confession: This is a Harry Potter/NCIS crossover. I'll move it to the Crossover section in just a little bit. What? BOO YOU, you say? I'm mean, you say? Meh. Not anything I haven't heard before! Give it a chance, read!

* * *

**Highly Classified**

"Idiotic children. Dumbledore should just throw the brats out! No respect for property! Make messes all the time, and then who has to clean it up? Me, that's who!" Filch muttered to himself as he began cleaning up the latest mess two certain red-headed children had made.

"Idiotic little brats!" The markings on the wall were refusing to come off. Filch headed over to his closest cleaning closet. This occasion called for the intense cleaners, and if not, he'd have to call one of those spineless teachers to come get it. He threw the door open, still muttering under his breath. He stopped short. His eyes popped open, his jaw dropped.

There, in his cleaning closet, was a blood stained floor and a black-robed leg sticking out from underneath a pile of cleaning supplies. Filch couldn't do anything but stare for a moment. "D-D-DUMBLEDORE!!!!"

* * *

**NCIS THEME SONG**

* * *

Jenny Sheppard typed away at her desk. Good Lord, today was boring! More than boring, it was aggravating. Gibbs' team hadn't had a case in over a week, and they were getting bored. That meant pranks, shouting, and running galore. Her third floor was near complete disorder. Agents would soon start moving into elevators just to get away from the noise to concentrate.

"DiNozzo!" Ziva's voice sounded faint, but to be heard from the Director's office it had to sound very loud if you were on the same floor.

Jenny put her face into her hands. She was so tired of the speech she was writing. Who had the stupid idea to make the Director of NCIS speak at a big ball? Oh yeah, SecNav. Well he might just have to deal with seven minutes of improvisation, Jenny thought.

The Director jumped when her phone rang, and she picked it up immediately, thoroughly hoping Ziva didn't decide to kill Tony in front of multiple witnesses. "Sheppard."

"Director, you're needed in MTAC," Cynthia informed her, sounding slightly stunned by how quickly the phone had been answered.

Jenny got up, happy to have an excuse to abandon her speech. As she went through the hall to MTAC, she spared a look down into the bull pen. McGee had apparently gone down to the lab, and Tony was over at his desk, very suspiciously hovering around the junior agent's keyboard. She rolled her eyes, feeling almost sorry for Gibbs.

The scanner confirmed that the eyes of Jenny Sheppard were the ones trying to enter MTAC and she opened the door. "Gibbs," she said, sounding slightly irritated, "what are you doing writing up reports in MTAC?"

"If you think it's possible to concentrate down in the bull pen, why don't you take your work down there? I'll trade you desks for an hour," Gibbs offered without looking up.

"No, that's alright. I don't think it's smart for you to be up in the Director's office alone for a minute, let alone an hour."

"Excuse me, Director Sheppard?" asked a deep voice on the big screen.

Jenny turned her attention to the screen, remembering that she was called to MTAC for a reason. "Sheppard here. How can I help you, Agent…?"

"Mr., actually. Mr. Kingsley Shacklebolt. First thing you can to do help me is get everyone out of the room," said the man on the screen.

"I can't do that, Mr. Shacklebolt. These people are here for a reason, it's their job!" Jenny said hotly.

"The matter I have to discuss with you is highly classified, meant for only your ears and Agent Gibbs', I'm assuming?"

Gibbs threw his papers off to the side and joined the Director in front of the screen. "Yeah, that's me."

"I can't send them away, Mr. Shacklebolt," Jenny repeated.

"Director Sheppard, please! I've called you because your organization has the best record. Please don't force me to call someone less trustworthy."

Jenny didn't break eye contact with the man for another minute. She turned to the MTAC operators. "Take fifteen," she ordered.

"Director!" one of the agents in front of a board exclaimed.

"That's an order!" Jenny slipped into a very demanding demeanor. "Take fifteen, now!" The agents grudgingly abandoned their posts and left MTAC.

"Alright, I did what you asked. Now tell me why," Jenny commanded.

Shacklebolt leaned forward. "I'm speaking to you on behalf of a very good friend of mine. He runs a school over here, in England. One of his students was murdered in an unusual way. He asked me to find someone who could find the answers quickly, and keep their mouths shut."

"We're overseas!" Jenny exclaimed. "Why not call someone from England to come solve your murder?"

"The boy killed was a transfer student. His father is an officer in your Navy," Shacklebolt explained. "Will you help us?"

"I need a little bit more to go on, Mr. Shacklebolt," Jenny scoffed.

"I'm sorry, but that's all I can tell you right now. Once you get over here, I'll show you to the school and you'll be filled in there."

"This sounds more than a little off to me. I don't think I want to risk my best agents, as I'm sure you want, on a bit of fuzzy information supplied to me from someone I don't know or trust!"

"You won't only need to send your agents, Director," Shacklebolt didn't break his calm aura in the least, "Things found at the crime scene lead us to believe that more, worse things are to come. You'll need your forensic scientist and M.E. The invitation has been extended to you, as well."

"You're asking us to send out half the agency across seas based on the information that an officer's kid was killed in an unusual manner. I'm not risking my team on that," Gibbs stepped in.

"Perhaps you didn't hear me earlier, Agent Gibbs." Shacklebolt was starting to get a little bit aggravated. "I am asking you to come here and solve this murder that has taken place at a school to save other students from suffering the same fate!"

Neither Gibbs nor Jenny said anything in reply. Shacklebolt took a breath and continued, "We've already arranged your transport over here. Plane tickets will be on your desk, Director. Should you choose to come, _everything_ you could _possibly_ need will be supplied by us. Please share this information with Miss Scuito and Dr. Mallard." The man's face was replaced by black and white bricks moving across the screen.

Jenny looked over at Gibbs. He sighed and headed out.

"Tell them break's over!" Jenny called after him. The agents she'd thrown out came back into the room. She left quickly for her office. She had dozens of calls to make, and she had to tell the SecNav she wouldn't be able to give the speech. What a pity!

* * *

"Pack your bags!" Gibbs ordered as he came back down to the bull pen.

Tony grabbed his backpack eagerly. "What happened, Boss?"

Gibbs slapped the back of his agent's head. "Did I tell you to grab your gear, DiNozzo? Go home! Pack your bags! Be back here at 16:30."

"Where are we going, Boss?" McGee asked.

"The U.K." Gibbs continued on his way through the bull pen and got onto the back elevator.

Tony looked across the bull pen at Ziva and smiled. "We're goin' to England!" he shouted. He snatched up his jacket and ran to the elevator.

Ziva and McGee managed to get onto the elevator before the doors closed. "What is so exciting about England? I've been there several times," Ziva informed her colleague.

Tony snapped his head towards her to glare. Ziva smiled teasingly and the elevator doors slid shut.

* * *

Next Chapter - Of Plane Rides and Thestrals

I will put you on my official hero list if you review! I truly want to know what you all think! Even if you think this is complete junk, let me know. "What? Alittleinsane wants me to tell them their story is bad?" Yes, if that's what you think!

Review!


	2. Of Plane Rides and Thestrals

**Of Plane Rides and Thestrals**

Jenny, Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, McGee, Abby, Ducky, and Jimmy walked into the hanger they'd been directed to.

Jenny took off her sunglasses to get a better look at the plane before them. It was gigantic.

"We get to ride that to the U.K. in this?" Tony asked excitedly. "I'm liking these people that called us more and more by the second!" His smile fell into a serious face at a glare from his boss. "Um… The people that called us to help them are being very kind to us," he rephrased before rushing off with Ziva, McGee, Abby, and Jimmy towards the open door.

"We can't even say who called us out to help!" Gibbs stated as he, Ducky, and Jenny walked towards the plane, dragging their bags behind them.

"When I called SecNav he said we'd be fine and that he knows them," Jenny tried to sound more confident than she felt.

"Well, the Secretary of the Navy wouldn't send out his very best if he didn't trust in the people that requested them," Ducky assured, ushering Jenny to get into the plane first.

Gibbs got on after Ducky. The plane looked bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. The entrance room had several seats with buckles for take off and landing. The walls, floors, and seats were all a nice beige color. Other rooms spread off in every possible direction. Gibbs thought he saw a pool table… but that had to be his imagination at work. Why would there be a pool table on an air plane?

"Oh... check this out! We've got a bar!" Tony shouted from somewhere.

"You're on the job, DiNozzo!" Jenny reminded.

"Well… we're not going to get there for quite some time, Director," Tony tried to reason.

"DiNozzo, you're on the job," the Director repeated.

Gibbs found his way into the room in time to see Tony stalk off.

"Ow! McGee! I didn't mean for you to hit back that hard!" Abby whined from somewhere else on the massive aircraft.

Gibbs sighed and looked at Ducky. This was going to be a very, very long plane ride. Though the plane was extremely large, sound traveled rather well.

"Please sit down and buckle up!" a voice requested over the intercom, "We are about to take off!"

"Merlin's beard, Tonks! Would you like to go hand out treats, too?" growled another voice.

"Awe, come on, Moody! I'm only having a bit of fun!"

Jenny found one of the speakers and pushed the button on it. "You do realize you haven't turned off the intercom?"

"Intercom? Oh yeah!" the voice dubbed Tonks said. "Now which button was that?"

"The same one you pushed to turn it on!" the voice of Moody snapped. There was a click, and the intercom turned off.

Abby skipped into the area of the plane with the seats. Everyone else wasn't far behind. The NCIS team buckled up and the plane took off.

The intercom came back on after a few minutes. "You are now free to wander around as you please. If you don't mind, we prefer that weapons stay in their cases and that there be no intended injuries – "

"Tonks!"

"Alastor, you might as well leave her alone." The new voice sounded fuzzier than the others, as if it were over a phone.

"If I wanted your opinion, Minerva, I would have sent _my_ Patronus to _you_!" Moody replied.

"Should I turn the intercom off again?" Tonks asked. The intercom clicked off once more.

"She sounds funny!" Abby said as she got up from her seat.

"Abby, she's flying the plane. Leave her alone," Gibbs ordered.

"I don't think she is flying the plane," Ducky argued, "She didn't sound like she had a clue as to what she was doing!"

"Well that makes us feel real safe, Ducky!" Tony quipped.

"Maybe she's just never flown a plane with an intercom before," Abby defended.

"Or, maybe, we're going to go down while we're halfway over the Atlantic and disappear like Amelia Earhart!" Tony said in reply.

"Actually, Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean. She was declared dead in 1939, but my uncle claimed he saw her several times after that. I remember there was one time when I was visiting him in…" Ducky continued with his story. Abby, Tony, Ziva, and McGee slipped out one by one without the M.E.'s notice. Jimmy stayed and listened intently to the whole story. Jenny took out her glasses and paperwork. Gibbs eventually left the room to explore the rest of the plane.

"Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs!" Abby's voice called on the intercom.

Gibbs found the nearest speaker and punched the button. "Abby! I told you to stay away from the cockpit!"

"Gibbs, I knocked!"

Gibbs sighed and hit the button again. "What is it, Abs?"

"You've got to come up here and look at this!"

Gibbs looked skyward for a moment. He left the speaker and headed towards the cockpit. Abby would never leave him alone if he didn't. Gibbs entered the cockpit and looked around briefly. McGee was lost in all the scanners and other techie things. Abby was talking to a young woman with bright pink hair and a lively face. There was a man with shoulder length scraggly hair as well, though his back was to Gibbs.

"Gibbs! You made it! I was hoping you wouldn't get lost! This is Tonks!" Abby spoke in her usual quick paced tones.

Gibbs shook Tonks' hand at Abby's prompting.

"And I think you'll like this guy! Gibbs, meet Alastor Moody!"

The man turned around. Gibbs took in his appearance. He had a fake leg, fake eye, and scarred face. When he spoke Gibbs recognized the growl from earlier on the intercom. "You're Agent Gibbs then, eh?"

"That's me." Gibbs's shook the man's knarled hand. "Been through a bit, haven't you?"

Moody gave a wry smile. "Yup. And every time was worth it."

"What about that time you left your weapon in your back pocket and – " Tonks was cut off with a glare from her superior. Abby put a hand over her mouth to cover her smile. Gibbs chose to act as if it hadn't happened.

"What can you tell me about the murder?" he asked the deformed man.

"I can't tell you anything that Shacklebolt didn't already tell you," Moody replied. "Rules have been set. You'll be given whatever information you ask for when you get to the school."

"Whuh-oh!" Tonks suddenly exclaimed. "Moody, did we ask for escorts?"

Moody swore as he looked out the window and saw other aircraft. "Kingsley! I'll kill him! He was supposed to take care of all of this!" The angry man pushed one of the multiple buttons lining the cockpit. "Sit down and buckle up!" he commanded roughly. He turned the intercom off and looked at Gibbs, Abby, and McGee. "That includes you three!" They left the cockpit and headed back to the room they'd been in for takeoff.

"Of course," Tony complained, "right when I'm about to kick Ziva's Israeli rear in chess…"

"You would not have won anyway, DiNozzo. One more move and I would have had your king," Ziva said smugly as she tightened her seat belt.

After a few minutes of doing odd twists, turns, flips, Tony and McGee throwing up openly, Jenny throwing up in her mouth, Abby and Jimmy screaming as if they were on a roller coaster, Ducky's complaints, and Gibbs and Ziva sitting calmly, the plane resumed regular flight. Several members of the group headed off to the bathroom.

The rest of the flight went fairly calmly. There may have been an incident involving Tony, some string, McGee, and a face plant, but other than that, nothing interesting.

The team deplaned in a forest clearing. Moody gave them directions to an area about three minutes of walking away where a tall, black man with an earring was waiting.

"Mr. Shacklebolt," Jenny greeted coolly.

Kingsley Shacklebolt smiled warmly at the group. "You're here! We're so happy to have you!" He was introduced to the NCIS personnel. "Wait here for a moment, please," he requested. He took off into the forest.

"I don't think I like these people so much anymore," Tony commented. "These are new shoes!"

Gibbs looked down to realize that everyone was standing in half-dry mud.

"What are you complaining for, DiNozzo?" Jenny asked. Her heels were quickly sinking into the ground.

Kingsley Shacklebolt returned shortly, walking backwards with slabs of meat in his hands.

"Why do I get a bad feeling about this?" Tony whispered to Ziva.

"I am having bad feelings too, Tony!"

Out of the trees came an odd horse looking creature towing a carriage. It was skinny, black, had wings and creepy looking eyes.

"Ohh…" Abby cooed. "Pretty! Can I pet it?" she asked Shacklebolt. He ignored her and continued walking backwards.

Another thing appeared. Shacklebolt stopped walking and threw a chunk of meat to each of the creatures. "Yes, you can pet it, if you can see it."

"Of course I can see it! It's right there!" Abby said. She walked over to one of the creatures and began rubbing its bony side. "What are they?"

"Thestrals. They're very smart, helpful creatures. Don't upset them, though. They're very powerful, as well. Alright, everybody in!" Kingsley looked around at everyone else, as if he expected one of them to say something odd.

Tony and McGee threw everyone's luggage into one carriage and everyone somehow managed to squeeze into the second.

The ride through the forest passed in relevant silence. The carriage wheels snapped twigs and squeaked, the creatures' hooves padded softly on the undergrowth, and every once and a while, there were animal sounds. Some were recognizable, others were not.

Eventually, the forest came to an end and the carriages stopped on the boarder line of the trees.

Kingsley hopped out of the Carriage and helped unload luggage before saying anything. "And here is where we depart. Just go through those doors. If no one is there, ask the first person you see for Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall."

"Thanks," Gibbs said, shaking the other man's hand. The rest of the team looked at the massive stone building before them in awe and confusion.

Kingsley headed off to the left, towards large gates.

Everyone grabbed their luggage and made their way towards the large open doors. They got up the stairs and stepped into a large hall. A dull roar was coming from behind more doors and echoed off the stone walls.

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Tony said suspiciously.

* * *

Next Chapter - Intro to Magic

Next chapter will be in the crossover section, as it should be.

Yay Hogwarts!!!! K, guide that little arrowish lookin thing on your screen over to the green button and click it. Tell me what you think! I am updating my hero list as we speak, don't miss out on this opportunity! Review! :D


	3. Intro to Magic

**Intro to Magic**

The team just stood in the hall for a few minutes. There was no one to ask where to go, and they didn't know what lay beyond the other doors before them.

"I'm not joking, Ron!" a feminine voice snapped from a staircase leading down into the hall, "Leave Crookshanks alone! He hasn't done anything!"

"Are you kidding, Hermione?" another voice snarled. "That thing is scaring Scabbers to death!"

"Scabbers is over a decade old, Ron! They're not supposed to live anywhere near that long! It's just his time to go!"

"Hey, can you both just leave it alone for a while?" a third voice asked with a pinch of annoyance.

The voices got louder and louder until three teenagers in black robes appeared at the bottom of the staircase. They stopped when they saw the NCIS team.

"Who are you?" asked the second voice, a scrawny looking red head with freckles covering his face.

"Rude much, Ron?" the girl asked. She had long bushy brown hair and brown eyes to match. "I'm Hermione Granger. This is Harry Potter," she gestured to a boy behind her with black hair, green eyes, glasses, and an odd scar on his forehead, "and Ron Weasley," she pointed to the other boy. "Can we help you?"

"Yes!" Jenny jumped at the chance. "Perhaps you've heard we were coming? We're from NCIS."

The teenagers just looked confused.

"We need to speak to Professor Dumbledore or McGonagall," Ziva said shortly.

"Professor McGonagall! What a coikidink!" Two more boys came down the staircase. "We've got detention with her tonight!" The boys looked very much like the red head boy Hermione Granger had introduced. They weren't quite as tall, though they did have very red hair and freckles. The newcomers were identical in every physical sense.

"You say you're from NCIS?" one of the twins said.

"And here to see the Headmaster and/or his deputy…" the other continued.

"They're both right through those doors," the first one spoke again.

"But we'll go get McGonagall for you."

"The Great Hall gets a bit scary around dinner time!"

The voices sounded the same, but Gibbs' head was starting to hurt from turning it so much.

"Fred, George, go away!" the non-twin red head commanded.

"We shall, little brother! Don't get your pants in a twist! George, shall we?"

"We shall, Fred!"

The twins skipped off towards the massive doors and waited for their friends.

"Sorry," the boy called Harry apologized for them, "Fred and George… they're a little bit crazy. They're not bad at all once you get used to them, and they really are helpful."

"Oi! Midgets!" one of the twins called.

"We're not going to stand here and wait forever to give you a double door entrance!" the other twin finished.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione waved and headed towards the doors. The twins opened them and skipped in after the trio.

The NCIS team caught a glimpse of the room behind the doors. It was packed with five tables and a countless amount of people. "Boarding school," Tony said, sounding disgusted.

"Bring back memories, DiNozzo?" Ziva smirked at her partner.

"You have no idea."

Ziva suddenly tensed and grabbed Tony's arm. "Does anyone else feel that?"

"Are your ninja senses tingling?" Tony welcomed the turning of the teasing table.

"There's someone in here… close by…"

"Oh no! It's the Chimera all over again!" Tony complained, throwing his eyes to the ceiling.

"Hey, there was someone on that ship!"

"Yeah, but it wasn't paranormal. There's no one here, Ziva! They're all in the dining hall!"

"You said no one was on the Chimera, either! There is something close by…"

Ziva flinched horribly when the doors to the Great Hall opened again. A tall woman with dark hair thrown back into a tight bun, glasses, an odd looking hat, and dressed in robes walked towards them.

"Stop the weirdness!" Tony said quietly to no one in particular.

Abby hit his arm. "Calm down, Tony! I'm sure she won't give you detention. This won't be a complete reliving of your high school years."

"High school and junior high," Tony corrected.

"Good evening," the woman greeted. Her voice was crisp, and indicated she didn't take any nonsense from anyone. "I'm Professor Minerva McGonagall. Welcome to Hogwarts!"

"Jenny Sheppard, Director of NCIS," Jenny started introductions. "These are Agents Jethro Gibbs, Anthony DiNozzo, Timothy McGee, Officer Ziva David, Abby Scuito, Jimmy Palmer, and Dr. Donald Mallard." She pointed to each person in turn.

"Oh… the Muggles are here!" chuckled someone from above. Everyone tilted their heads up. A plump man was floating across the ceiling. "Really, Professor. Muggles? You'd better keep close watch on them. I won't do anything to them, of course, but someone's likely to!"

"I told you! I told you someone was here!" Ziva snapped at Tony and punched his arm.

"Peeves! Away!" McGonagall demanded.

The fat man on the ceiling sighed. "What happened to the days when we got along, Minerva?"

"Peeves, don't make me call the Bloody Baron!"

The man on the ceiling smiled, but left all the same.

"Poltergeist," McGonagall explained, as if it were completely normal. "While you're here if there's anything you need, you can ask me. Dumbledore, the Headmaster, has asked me to take care of you."

The dull roar behind the door suddenly silenced.

"Uhhh…" Tony said, pointing at the door.

"Professor Dumbledore is making the announcement of you. We weren't expecting you for quite some time yet. Kingsley gave us the wrong time."

A few students tumbled out the doors.

"That man has completely lost it!" a boy with platinum blonde hair and a long face complained. "Muggles? What's wrong with him! It's not like McDonald was worth that much, anyway!"

Two fat boys behind him grunted their agreement.

"Malfoy," McGonagall slipped into a sterner demeanor, "Crabbe, Goyle. Keep your opinions to yourselves, and keep them quiet! Fifteen points from Slytherin, for excessive rudeness."

"We thought we were, Professor," the blonde boy said scathingly. "We thought everyone was still in the Great Hall. We'll just move right along." The trio did, in fact, leave after that.

The Professor exhaled quickly.

"What are 'Muggles'?" Abby asked.

"That's what you are. I'll explain once you're settled. Follow me." McGonagall began to move towards a staircase, but the doors opened and teenagers in black robes spilled out. It was chaos. Some students were running, others screaming, others whispering to their friends.

McGonagall turned around and glared at someone through the open doors. A tall man with long silver hair shrugged his shoulders at her.

"Fred! Give it back!" a small girl shouted while running after the twins the team had met earlier.

"If you catch it, Ginny, you can have it! George!" Fred yelled to his twin. He threw something through the air and his duplicate brother caught it.

The young girl called Ginny stopped. Her face was redder than her hair and her brown eyes blazed. "George," she said through gritted teeth, "I'm warning you."

"Come on, Ginny! Have a bit of fun!" George tossed the thing back to his brother.

Ginny pulled something out of her pocket and screamed something in a foreign language. Small wads of… something spilled out of whatever stick-ish thing she'd pulled out of her pocket and flew at the twins.

"Alright! Call it off! Call it off! Here you go!" Fred blindly threw the thing in his hand back towards the girl who just had to be his sister.

The girl caught her possession and put it and her stick back in her pocket.

"Excuse me," Professor McGonagall pardoned herself before heading over to the three red heads.

"I want to go home," Tony declared, staring at the twins, who were still being attacked by little wads of whatever.

"I think the SecNav should go in for a psych eval.," Jenny whispered to Gibbs.

Gibbs didn't respond, just kept watching the scene before him.

"Miss Weasley! What is the rule about magic in the halls?!" Professor McGonagall snapped.

"It's not my fault, Professor! Idiots One and Two over there took my gloves for Herbology!" the young girl defended herself.

"Have a little self control, Miss Weasley! Ten points from Gryffindor! Ask a staff member next time!"

"Fine," the girl said insincerely. "May I go now?"

"Yes, you may." Ginny left, and Professor McGonagall turned to the twins who were still batting wads of unidentified substances away from themselves. She took a stick out of her own pocket and flicked it at them. The UFOs disappeared. The twins graciously thanked their Professor and took off before she started yelling at them, too.

McGonagall went back to the NCIS team, most of which were looking at her oddly. "Again, I'll explain once you're settled. Follow me, mind your feet!"

"Why are they all staring at us?" McGee whispered to Abby as they did as they were asked.

"Because we're Muggles, McG!" Abby responded gleefully. "I like it here!"

"Yeah, it's medieval themed, of course you like it here."

"Think we'll see any of your kind, Elf Lord?" Tony asked.

McGee chose not to respond.

Jenny and Gibbs walked just behind the Professor. Jenny was surprised and a little bit jealous of the control the older woman had over her students. All McGonagall had to do was look at the student doing something wrong before they apologized, fixed the situation, and ran off. If the Director were able to control Gibbs and his team like that, NCIS would have a lot less paper work and explaining to do.

Professor McGonagall stopped halfway through a hallway. The stop caused Ziva to collide with Tony.

"Ouch! Care to watch where you're going, Officer David?"

Ziva snapped something in a different language. Whatever she said caused Jenny to smile and roll her eyes.

"Wait right here for a moment," McGonagall requested. She went around the corner and came back a moment later. The team began following her again. She opened a door and ushered them in, closing the door behind herself once everyone was in. "This is where you'll be staying."

Jenny looked at the blank stone walls and floor, thoroughly unimpressed.

"A stone bed! Just what I always wanted!" Tony said sarcastically, earning a slap on the back of his head from his boss.

"This is the Room of Requirement, Agent DiNozzo. It will change as you wish it to," McGonagall explained.

"Right, so if I wished the walls to be made of money, they'd just – " Tony stopped short as the walls began to turn green and faces of dead presidents appeared. He cracked a smile and went over to the money-wall. "I could get used to this pretty quickly…"

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs growled. Tony reluctantly pulled himself away from the wall and returned to the group. The walls reverted to stone.

"Professor McGonagall," Jenny started, "what in the hell is going on here?!"

Just then, the door opened. The man the team had caught a glimpse of before entered. He was even taller up close. His beard and his hair reached down to his belt, and he had glasses. "Hello, NCIS! Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts! Welcome!" he said warmly. No one chose to respond. It hardly deterred him. "I suppose you'd like to be filled in on everything Kingsley wasn't able to. Please, sit down!"

The team turned around to find chairs behind every one of them. They dropped their bags and lowered themselves into the comfortable armchairs. Dumbledore began explaining, and they listened closely to their Introduction to Magic lesson.

* * *

Next Chapter - Crime Scene One

I lied last chapter. This story will be moved to the crossover NEXT chapter. Absolute promise. Put it on story alert now or be sure to check the crossover section for it! My reason for this would take a very long time to explain, so just know that I have one. ...Yeah...

Please, please, please, PRETTY please tell me what you think! If you don't review... I'll... I'll... I'll CRY! Save me from ruinining my lovely letter I'm writing. Review, whether your aim is to tell me it sucks, it rocks, or whatever. Let me know!

P.S. - Ruinining will never look like it is spelled right. In case you're ever wondering...


	4. Crime Scene One

**Crime Scene One**

Dumbledore only stayed for a short time after he finished telling the team about the world that had been unknown to them their entire lives and how to properly use the Room of Requirement.

"Somebody pinch me. There's no way I'm awake," Tony said after a moment of dead silence.

Abby leaned over and pinched his arm, causing him to jump. "You're the one that asked me to!" she pointed out. She popped out of her chair and it disappeared. "Ok… so if I want my lab…" she said slowly. She closed her eyes and turned around three times for effect. A loud scream came from her mouth when she opened her eyes. Her lab had appeared in the corner of the room. "My lab! It's my lab! I have my lab!" She skipped into it, feeling right at home. Music was soon playing behind the doors.

The bullpen, Director's office, and morgue suddenly appeared as well, though in a jumbled mess. There was one of Ducky's body tables in the bull pen, a plasma on the stairs, and one of the Director's filing cabinets in the morgue. Abby came back to her lab door. "McGee, what's your desk doing in my lab?"

McGonagall looked at the catastrophe that had been created. "How many floors is this?"

"Well," Abby started, "My lab and Ducky's is below ground level, and then the bullpen is level three, and the Director's is on the fourth floor. So that's five floors total.

"That's the problem. The Room of Requirement does have some limitations. It can only create two floors as a time," the professor explained.

"Duck, Abby, you're moving up!" Gibbs said.

The room rearranged itself. There was the staircase leading up to MTAC and the Director's office, and below it, the bull pen. The only difference to the usual set up was that the morgue and lab replaced the other bull pens.

Gibbs threw his bags onto his desk and his team followed suite. "Alright, we're ready for work," he announced.

"Already?" McGonagall asked, truly surprised.

"Clock's ticking. Where's our crime scene?"

"Again, follow me."

Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, McGee and Jenny followed.

"Just where do you think you're going, Jen?" Gibbs asked, effectively halting the procession.

"With you. Leon Vance is playing Director until we get back. What else do you propose I do?" Jenny replied, drawing herself to her full height and crossing her arms.

"I suggest you go up to your office and find something to do, Director. I do not need you looking over my shoulder!"

"Well, Jethro, you'd better get used to it, because there's going to be a lot of me looking over your shoulder until you let me help."

"Your help isn't wanted or needed. Go up to MTAC, direct!" Gibbs turned away before she could respond. McGonagall started again and the unit was on their way to their crime scene.

"Gibbs is known for being very direct, isn't he?" Ducky commented idly. "Come along, Mr. Palmer. We should get things set up for our new arrival."

"If you really don't have anything to do, Director, you can come down to my lab," Abby offered with a smile before heading off to her second home.

* * *

"Tell us about what happened," Gibbs requested as they walked to their destination.

"What do you want to know?" McGonagall asked.

"What's the victim's name?"

"Gavin McDonald. He transferred in the middle of his second year when his father was reassigned. He was in his fourth year."

"Who found the body?"

"Argus Filch, Hogwarts caretaker, found Mr. McDonald," McGonagall tried to cover up the slight annoyance in her voice. Gibbs knew Gavin's name, why not just say it?

"Have his parents been called yet?"

"Yes, of course! They're on their way here now, as we speak." McGonagall turned around another corner. "This here is the closet Argus told us about." She pointed at the door.

Tony opened the door, revealing a dead body.

"All the things on the floor were on top of him. We had to move them from his face to see who it was," McGonagall said from a few feet away. She didn't see a need to go any closer.

"DiNozzo, sketch and measure," Gibbs ordered, "Ziva, photos. McGee, call Ducky, tell him to get over here. When you're done with that, bag and tag."

McGonagall watched the agents set to work like a well oiled machine. She was honestly impressed. Perhaps, if they worked quickly enough, the killer wouldn't be able to carry out his threat…

"Boss, I don't have any service," McGee said nervously.

McGonagall looked at the phone in McGee's hand. "If you mean your device there doesn't work, don't count on anyone else's functioning. Hogwarts is designed to make sure electronic devices don't work, save the Room of Requirement."

"Well, Professor, we need a way to communicate across the school, or this is going to be a very slow and painful process," Gibbs stood up from where he'd been crouched looking at the body.

"I can arrange that, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow. I have to discuss it with Professor Dumbledore."

"We need to communicate now!" Gibbs said hotly and stepped out of the closet.

"That's all I can do! You just have to wait!"

"Dr. Mallard is waiting for us to call him!" Gibbs tried not to shout. He sighed. "Ziva, you remember the way?"

"I do," Ziva replied.

"Go."

"Hold on, just a moment! I can't have you running across the castle by yourselves!" McGonagall objected.

"You haven't left us much of a choice, Professor! Go, Ziva. Don't run into anyone."

Ziva handed the camera off to McGee and took off her shoes and slick NCIS jacket. "Do not worry, Professor. No one will ever know I moved from here." She took off silently, checking the corner before she went around it.

"Would you trust Ziva, Probie?" Tony asked.

"Ziva? Yes. You? Not so much," McGee answered as he picked up where Ziva left off.

"How could you not trust me, Probie? What have I done to warrant this distrust?"

"Do you want me to go in alphabetical order, Tony?"

"Both of you," Gibbs said as he re-entered the closet, "shut up."

"Right away, boss!" The two men set back to work.

Ziva returned faster than expected with Jimmy and Ducky.

"That was quick," McGee commented.

"That's because Officer David is paranoid!" Ducky gasped.

Ziva chose to ignore the doctor and took the camera back from McGee. "What happened?" McGee asked the M.E.'s assistant.

"Dr. Mallard is a bit upset over the fact that Ziva made him run half the time," Jimmy explained.

"Mr. Palmer!" Ducky called, "Do you plan on doing what I hired you to?"

"Coming, Doctor!"

"Officer David, do I have permission to move more of this junk off the body?" Ducky asked.

"Yes, Ducky, you do. I have gotten all the pictures we will need."

Ducky quickly threw some of the cleaning supplies off the dead boy's body. "Professor McGonagall," he said slowly after a moment, "what's so unusual about this case?" Ducky leaned back on his heels and looked at the teacher who was still sanding on the other side of the hall.

Gibbs looked at the wound Ducky had exposed. "Double tap to the heart. What is so unusual?"

"That's what makes it unusual. Weren't you listening to Dumbledore at all? This is a school of magic! The fact that someone is using Muggle methods to kill puts us out of our element," McGonagall replied.

"You mean the fact that someone _used_ our kind of method," McGee corrected.

"No," McGonagall said slowly. "This is only part of what was left. Would you care to see the other bit?"

"Well yeah, Professor. That'd be nice," Gibbs said. "You okay here, Duck?"

"I'll be fine, Jethro! Go on, investigate!" Ducky assured. "Mr. Palmer, do you have the time of death yet?"

McGonagall clenched her fists briefly. NCIS was getting on her nerves. One of her Gryffindors was killed for no apparent reason, and they were acting as if it were nothing!

The group turned around a corner and were met with a blood-stained wall. "_There will be more."_

"When Argus saw it, he thought it was just the Weasleys playing another prank until he found McDonald," McGonagall said.

Ziva took several pictures. Close ups, full views, different angles.

Gibbs put his face a mere inch away from the writing. "It looks like brush strokes. McGee, get a sample." McGee swabbed the wall and the agents made their way back to the other half of the crime scene.

McGonagall had been staring at the blood and didn't notice them leaving. She hurried to catch up with them. She didn't trust them. If she didn't keep a close watch, one of them would surely slip away and get into some sort of trouble.

Ducky zipped up a body bag. The body in the closet was gone. "I think we'll manage to get back alright," he said. The doctor and his assistant lifted the black bag onto a cart. "Would you like us to bring Abby her present?"

McGee handed Jimmy the bag full of bags of evidence and then they were gone.

"Alright, stage," Gibbs sighed.

"The blood spatter indicates that the shooter was maybe three steps to the left of where you are, Gibbs," Ziva suggested. "And that the victim was right…" she grabbed Tony by the shoulders and moved him as she pleased, "about here."

"So if I'm the shooter," Gibbs brought his gun out of its holster and held it up, "I'd be here, taking aim, and then, bang, bang!" He lowered his gun to his side. "DiNozzo's got a clear shot to run away. The corner isn't far. He'd be able to get away without a problem."

"So instead of running I just… let you shoot me? No way!" Tony began examining the doorframe, looking for signs of a struggle or something used as a restraint.

"Well, whoever the killer is, is a wizard, right?" McGee started.

Ziva cut in, "Or a witch!"

"Or a witch," McGee corrected himself. "What if they combined methods? Magically restrained the victim and then pulled a gun on him."

Professor McGonagall felt sicker with each word that came out of the agents' mouths.

"No," Gibbs shot down McGee's suggestion. "This person is a witch or wizard, but they didn't combine methods. That would muddy up their point."

"Their point?" Tony asked, abandoning the doorway.

"Why else would someone that could kill another person with a few words and a wave of a wand go through all the trouble of finding a gun and getting it into school?"

"I see your point, Boss. But what if they panicked? McDonald was a pretty buff looking kid. To take him down in a fight you'd have to be Ziva, be bigger and stronger, or use that what-you-might-call-it thing all these kids have in their pockets."

"Wands," McGonagall supplied.

"Those too," Tony said.

"We're not getting anywhere," Gibbs said, defeated, "Abby and Ducky will give us more to go on. Come on." He began tracing his steps back to the Room of Requirement.

McGonagall walked in stride with Gibbs. "What do Miss Scuito and Dr. Mallard do?"

"Abby is the forensic scientist. She'll look at all the things we tagged and look for clues on those. Ducky is the medical examiner. He'll be doing the autopsy."

"Autopsy?" McGonagall stopped walking. Tony barely avoided running into her. "You mean cutting him open?"

"To find more evidence of what could have happened," Gibbs explained.

"You said that he was shot twice in the chest! What more information do you need from him?!"

"Well, for starters, we need the slugs that are sitting in his chest. And then, who knows what else we might find."

Professor McGonagall continued to look absolutely outraged. "Honestly, Professor. We learn all sorts of really helpful things from autopsies that would have gone unnoticed otherwise. Example, there was a victim we had a couple of years ago, died in his car without explanation. Ducky did the autopsy and found out that the guy ate a bunch of emeralds and it tore his insides apart. From that small bit of information the case snowballed until we managed to stop an assassination! Besides, Ducky's only going to do the external exam tonight!" Tony reassured. McGonagall's face did not show any signs of change.

"Is that the case you met Agent Cassidy on?" Ziva asked as she readjusted her backpack.

"Yep. Agent Paula Cassidy," Tony said reminiscently.

"Can we not talk about her, please?" McGee asked.

McGonagall looked at Tony questioningly. "Agent Cassidy threw herself at a suicide bomber to keep him away from us," he explained. McGonagall felt sick to her stomach again, though she refused to let it show.

"Tony!" McGee exclaimed.

"Would you rather I told Kate's story, Probie?" Tony quipped as the team stepped through a door into the bullpen/lab/morgue.

"Ziva," Gibbs said from his desk.

"Gibbs?"

Gibbs threw the Israeli a paperclip. "Kill him."

"As I am ordered!" Ziva said with dark joy as she began to straighten the clip, finally making a small hook on the end. "Tony, come here for a moment. I need to borrow your nose…"

"Boss, you weren't really serious, were you? You're going to call her off, aren't you?" Tony said hurriedly. Gibbs looked at him briefly before turning his attention to one of the various screens on his desk. "Ziva, come on! I'm your partner! Your buddy! You're not really going to de-brain me, are you?"

McGonagall raised an eyebrow at Gibbs, who took no notice. Agent McGee sat down at his own desk and set to work, as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. These people were definitely very, very strange.

"I suppose I could use one of the other 18 methods of killing with a paperclip, but I am fairly certain you would prefer method 13!" Ziva continued advancing slowly towards her colleague.

"JENNY!!!!" Tony shouted, taking off towards the stairs.

Ziva gave her prey a slight head start before running after him.

* * *

Next chapter - Zero Five Freakin' Hundred

Hey, everyone. I check my inbox constatnly for review alerts... uh... basically because I have no life... but, uh... if you want to be really cool and break the monotony of my day (which consists of me hitting refresh... a lot) just... leave a review. Uhm.... yeah...

...Well if that didn't make me sound like a druggie I don't know what will... ANYWHO! Please leave a review! It makes me smile! :D


	5. Zero Five Freakin' Hundred

**Zero Five Freakin' Hundred**

Tony woke up due to his pillow beginning to vibrate. He reached under it and pulled out his phone. Oh, right. He'd set his alarm. For 0450. "I'd better get a medal for this," he thought as he pushed himself out of bed. He snatched his gun and badge and attached them to the waistband of his boxers.

"I need a map, dang it!" he screamed in his head. A piece of paper materialized on his nightstand. Tony eagerly grabbed it. He loved the Room of Requirement, 100%.

Tony followed the map until he reached the entrance to his destination. A giant picture. Fantastic. Great door, Hogwarts! He refused to give up that easy, he didn't wake up at 4:50 in the morning to give up! Tony ran his hand over the picture. His fingers grazed the pear and a door handle appeared. He grabbed it before it could get the chance to disappear and entered the lit room.

Tony began sifting through various cabinets and muttering to himself. "Wake up at zero five freakin' hundred to get the rest of my freakin' colleagues some freakin' coffee. So what can't I freakin' find? Freakin' coffee! Rah!"

"Agent DiNozzo," said a voice from behind. Tony easily recognized it. Oh joy. "Might I ask what you are doing wandering the castle by yourself at this early hour?"

Tony turned around to find Professor McGonagall sitting at a table with a newspaper and cup before her. He thought about being embarrassed about his outfit made up of boxers and plain white tee shirt, but tossed it aside. Professor McGonagall was deputy head of the school. She had to have been teaching for long enough to have seen worse. He sighed inwardly. Oh, the effects boarding school had on children that just never really went away…

"I wasn't being quiet or anything a minute ago," Tony couldn't help but snap. Zero five freakin' hundred! "I'm trying to find coffee! Contradictory to what you think, we were actually listening to Professor Dumbledore last night. We know the Room can't give us food!"

"Breakfast is at 8. Coffee is always served."

"Trust me," Tony said seriously, "you do not want to see Gibbs without his coffee. He may have seemed mean last night, but compared to caffeine-less Gibbs, last night Gibbs is a furry little kitty cat. The rest of the team isn't too pleasant without their coffee either. Take me for example. …No further explanation needed." He turned back to the cabinets and resumed throwing them open.

"Try looking four cabinets to your right," McGonagall suggested.

Tony flung the cabinet open and greedily grabbed the can of coffee beans. The coffee maker was sitting on one of the many low counters. He didn't bother measuring anything. Coffee beans and water went in, and Tony watched as the caffeine beverage started dripping slowly into the pot.

"I see you managed to escape Officer David?"

"Huh?" Tony turned towards the table again. "Oh, yeah. The Director wasn't very sympathetic, said I probably deserved it. Abby was the one that managed to call Ziva off."

"I thought Miss Scuito wasn't an agent?"

"She's not. She's a forensic scientist. Abby can't really physically fight, but, as she constantly reminds us, she could boil us from the inside out and never leave a trace."

McGonagall frowned.

"She's a really sweet person most of the time. Unless you don't have caf-pow for her. …oh crap… caf-pow…."

"Caf-pow?" McGonagall repeated slowly.

"Abby's choice of caffeine… it's kind of like coffee juice, bought at a gas station back in the U.S. on base… and there's no possible way we can get out hands on it here…" Tony slammed his head onto a cabinet. "We're so screwed!"

The professor chose to not say anything just yet.

Tony picked his head up. He grabbed the coffeepot and drank some of the burning hot liquid straight from it.

McGonagall couldn't help but gasp. Idiot! "Are you trying to burn your tongue off?" she asked as the agent ran towards a sink and started gurgling cold water.

"That wasn't my original intention. I just needed the coffee. But now, I see another advantage. Abby will be taking her caf-pow withdraw out on anyone but me. She's rather sympathetic. Ah… poor Probie…"

Faint voices could be heard from just outside the door.

"Ouch! Lee, stop pushing!"

"Maybe if you would move, Fred, I wouldn't have to push!"

"I'm George, you half-wit!"

"Hold on just a moment, Agent DiNozzo," McGonagall requested. She pulled her wand out of her pocket and flicked it. The kitchen went completely dark. Tony couldn't see his hand in front of his face. He stretched his hand out until it met the counter.

The door squeaked open. Three faint wand-lights illuminated three faces. Tony recognized two as the Weasley twins from the previous night. The third face was new. The kid was black and had his hair in dreadlocks. He had to be the one called Lee.

"Come on, come on! Put the stuff back and let's go! McGonagall probably going to come down here soon, and we've already got detention tonight!" one of the redheads whispered.

"I'm down here now, Weasley," McGonagall said coolly. The lights turned back on, showing the three boys carrying bundles of food. They had the classic deer-in-headlights look. "Explain." McGonagall continued drinking whatever was in her cup as she waited.

Lee and one of the twins grabbed the food from the second twin and began putting it away, leaving twin two to explain. "Well, you see, Professor, Gavin was a pretty lively guy. He wouldn't want us crying over him, so we had a party last night! Lots of fun stories!"

"Gosh, that kid was funny! I miss him already!" the other twin said, kneeling on the floor with his head in a cabinet.

"Fred, I am so tempted…" George said, making a kicking movement with his foot.

"If you kick me, George, I'm going to throw you off the clock tower."

"Do you make it a habit of wandering around before there's even a hint of sunlight?" Tony asked. McGonagall looked over at him. The agent was suddenly looking completely awake, and very serious.

"Not necessarily a habit…" Fred… or George… said.

"But we do go out sometimes," the other one said. Kill it. Tony was dubbing the one that just spoke George.

"It's just such an adrenaline rush!" Fred explained.

"Yeah, you have to dodge teachers and prefects, keep quiet, get to your destination unseen…" George started ticking off reasons.

"Yeah, ok," Agent DiNozzo cut them off, "What about last night? Were you out? Maybe at around 3:30?" He took a couple of steps towards the boys.

"First off, no," Fred said.

"Second off, nice shorts," George commented on the blue plaid boxers.

"Third off, why?" Lee asked.

"Never mind. Get lost, kids," Tony ordered.

"Right away, Mr. NCIS Agent, sir!" Fred saluted, and then he, his brother, and his friend took off before the Professor could stop them.

"I don't recall telling you they could leave…" McGonagall told Tony.

Tony went back to his previous grumpy state. "They didn't do anything. Just celebrated the life of a friend. Do they deserve detention for that?" He grabbed the now full to the brim coffee pot. "Breakfast at 8, yeah?" he headed towards the door.

"Why 3:30?" McGonagall asked one last question.

"That's the time Ducky said McDonald was shot." Tony left.

McGonagall felt chills go up her back. She didn't like what was going on one bit.

* * *

Next chapter - Breakfast of Abnormalities

Every time you leave a review, an author starts to sing really happy songs and dance along. -hint hint- :D


	6. Breakfast of Abnormalities

**Breakfast of Abnormalities**

Tony was, in fact, praised by his colleagues for getting the coffee from the kitchen. "So who wants to get it tomorrow?" he asked, taking a sip from his cup. Silence fell over the group and they dispersed. Only Gibbs and Jenny remained. Tony frowned. Of course he'd have to again.

"Go get ready, Tony. Work starts in 45 minutes," Gibbs said as he threw his empty coffee cup into the trash and began walking away.

"Breakfast is at 0800, Boss!" Tony pointed out.

"Yeah, and we start work at 0700! Go get ready," Gibbs commanded without stopping.

"I was going to take a nap…" Tony said to himself. "Jet lag…"

"You know, DiNozzo," Jenny said slowly, "you could have just brought coffee supplies up here." She left to get ready as well.

Tony stood in the middle of the room, realization on his face. He cursed himself before he went to go get ready for the day as well.

* * *

Professor McGonagall dragged herself to the Room of Requirement. She'd better get a raise for dealing with these people. What she saw when she opened the door was definitely not what she had expected. She'd expected the agents to still be asleep, or maybe just waking up. But no. They were all awake and hard at work.

"McGee, put up the pictures on the plasma!" Gibbs demanded.

"I'm trying, Boss! Just one more second… there we go!"

Pictures of a dead Hogwarts student popped up on a large screen. McGonagall turned her head away. Instead of seeing carpet, she saw the red headed Director sat against the wall.

Jenny looked up at the older woman. "I'm keeping a respectable distance," she explained with a smile from the floor.

"Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs!" Abby said from the doorway of her lab.

"Abby?"

"I can't tell you unless you come to my lab! It's tradition!" Abby said with her hands on hips.

Gibbs headed towards the door, though Abby stopped him before he walked in. "Where's my caf-pow?"

"Abby, we can't get any caf-pow! It's only sold on base!"

"Over-night it, Gibbs!"

"Abby!"

The no longer happy Goth allowed Gibbs in grudgingly.

"Why are you all working so early?" McGonagall asked the woman on the floor.

"We started working fifteen minutes ago, at 7, like always. What do you need?"

"_I _don't need anything. Dumbledore wants you all to come down to the Great Hall for breakfast so he can introduce you."

"Alright, we can be there. What time?"

"Breakfast starts in 45 minutes, but Dumbledore wants you to meet the rest of the staff, first."

Jenny pushed herself into a standing position and walked into the bullpen. "Break time!"

"Why?" Ziva asked. "We have not done anything yet."

"Have you ever heard of breakfast, Zee-vah?" Tony asked.

"I already ate!" she snapped back.

"Ate what? The room doesn't make food and you were still asleep when I got up!" Tony sighed dramatically. "Probie, did she eat one of your legs?"

"I brought food in my bag, DiNozzo," Ziva explained. "And I would mime you to end my hunger before I did McGee."

"I think you mean maim, Ziva," McGee put in.

"Yes, whatever."

Gibbs came out of Abby's lab. "Jen!"

"I'm not stepping on your feet, Gibbs!" Jenny replied. "We've been asked to go join the school for breakfast."

"I'll go get Ducky! You can take Abby, Probie!" Tony took off before McGee said anything.

Five minutes later, the NCIS personnel were all following Professor McGonagall to the Great Hall. The elevated table at the front of the room that faced a different direction than the rest was already full of adults. The team was given too many new names. Jenny was sure she'd only remember a few of them and hoped she wouldn't have to deal with them too much.

"And last, but surely not least, Professor Snape the Potions Master. Miss Scuito, if there's something you need and for some reason cannot get, he will help you find it," Dumbledore wrapped up the introductions.

Abby waved. Snape didn't acknowledge it. "Well isn't someone grumpy…" Abby said quietly.

"I would not mess with him, Abby," Ziva replied in a whisper. "He looks like he might suck the blood out of you."

"You mean like a vampire?!" Abby whispered excitedly. "I've always wanted to meet one!"

Dumbledore directed the team to sit over on his right. The hall soon filled with tired, slow moving students. Some were still in their pajamas.

"How many students go here?" Jenny asked after a few moments. She'd sat next to Professor McGonagall just to make sure Gibbs didn't. Ziva had told her that the two didn't seem to get along very well.

"Somewhere around 600, I believe. I don't keep track anymore," McGonagall answered.

"DiNozzo! Close your mouth when you chew!" Gibbs' voice growled from somewhere down the table.

"Is he always so..." the professor searched for the word she wanted.

"Yeah, he is. That's just Gibbs," Jenny said. "It doesn't matter what word you say, that's what he is."

"Abby, what do you want? Stop kicking me! I'm paying attention!" McGee snapped.

"Then _look_ at me, McGee!"

"Are they always so juvenile?" McGonagall asked.

"They're being juvenile?" Jenny genuinely questioned. "This is how they normally act, if that's what you mean."

McGonagall raised her eyebrows.

"It's just how they work. They wouldn't act the way they do if they didn't feel comfortable. The Hogwarts staff looks pretty professional now, but is it the same way in the staff room?" Jenny took the professor's hint of a smile as a no. "Exactly. If you work with the same people day in and day out, you don't bother with formalities."

"Ha!" Ducky exclaimed from the other side of the Director. "Gibbs and his team are far past formalities. They're practically a family! Tony, Ziva, and Timothy bicker like siblings constantly, and Gibbs keeps them in line, when he feels like it."

"Tony! If you keep throwing things at me, I will put this fork through your hand!" Ziva snarled.

"I was aiming for Probie, Zee-vah, but you keep getting in the way. Your hair is particularly frizzy today."

"My hair is not frizzy, DiNozzo! It is curly!"

"Whatever you say, Officer David."

"I am warning you, Tony…"

"My point was just strengthened," Ducky said with a smile.

McGonagall shook her head. The staff was close, sure, but they definitely didn't argue like siblings… did they? She looked down the table to see Abby rapidly moving her hands. She stooped, then Gibbs started. "What are they doing?"

Jenny looked down the table briefly. "Signing. Abby's parents are deaf. I don't know where Gibbs learned. Do you, Ducky?"

"I haven't the faintest idea," Ducky said after a moment.

"Why is everyone calling you 'Ducky'?"

"It's a nick name I picked up in my school days. Donald Mallard. Mallard, as I'm sure you know, is a type of duck, and then there was Donald Duck from cartoons," Ducky explained. "I remember one time in – "

"Ducky, no stories right now," Jenny requested.

"Right…"

"Minerva, what time did Alastor and Nyphadora get back?"

McGonagall turned her attention towards her new conversation with the Headmaster.

Jenny and Ducky tuned into the discussion Gibbs had started.

"Abby said she found nail polish on McDonald's robes."

"So the killer is a girl," Ziva suggested.

"I doubt it," Abby cut in, "I found it on the back of his robes, near the bottom. Why would the killer grab the hem of the robes? Secondly, the nail polish was pink. That's not a color that says 'killer', is it?"

"It doesn't matter," Tony said as he looked at the student body. "I've already counted at least thirty girls wearing pink nail polish."

"Ducky, what'd you find on the external exam?" Gibbs leaned forward so he could see the ME

"His right knuckles were slightly swollen, suggesting he threw a punch or two. But there wasn't anything unusual other than that."

"No defensive wounds?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Well we can't go off the nail polish either way," Jenny ignored Gibb's hot glare, "Whoever the girl is obviously got some of it chipped off. Whether she was involved or not, she's probably repainted her nails, and likely a different color."

Silence fell over the entire hall. The team took notice and stopped talking. Dumbledore had stood up. They were about to be introduced.

"Good morning, everyone!" Dumbledore said cheerily. "I thought I would introduce our guests to you this morning." Dumbledore began introducing in the order that the team was seated, "This is Director Sheppard, Doctor Mallard and his assistant, Mr. Palmer, Miss Sciuto, Agent McGee, Officer David, Agent DiNozzo, and Agent Gibbs. You know what they are here for. If you can speed up their investigation in any way, please do so. Otherwise, leave them alone to do their jobs. That is all; you may go to your classes now."

The students left the hall even slower than they came in. Staff started filing out as well.

"I do have classes," McGonagall said to Jenny, "but I trust that you can make it back to the Room of Requirement and stay put." It wasn't a statement, it was a command. The professor got up and left.

NCIS waited a few minutes for the hall to clear out, then went to the Room of Requirement to continue trying to figure out what happened with their very small amount of evidence.

* * *

Next chapter - Sickening Battles

I need your reviews, people. I just had one of _those_ days, you know? Anywho, a little message in my inbox telling me that there's a review on my story is going to make me grin from ear to ear! :)


	7. Sickening Battles

**Sickening Battles**

Half an hour after breakfast, the team took a break. They weren't getting anywhere. Abby needed to finish her tests, and Commander and Mrs. McDonald had yet to show up. Ducky was waiting to do the autopsy until they saw their son once more.

Gibbs came back to the area where the bull pen had been. The area was replaced with the NCIS work out room. Ziva was warming up with a punching bag, and Tony and McGee were stretching.

"DiNozzo, up," Gibbs ordered as he stepped into the ring.

"Don't you want to stretch first, Boss?" Gibbs looked over at his subordinate. "You already stretched. Alright!" Tony tossed his boss a pair of gloves, then put some on himself.

"McGee, you coming?"

"Weh – I thought it was one-on-one…" McGee stuttered.

"And now it'll be one-on-one-on-one. Get in here, Probie!" Tony called. McGee sighed, but grabbed gloves anyway.

"Hold on!" Abby shouted, coming out of her lab. "I need McGee!"

McGee looked over at Gibbs. "Go, McGee." The junior agent didn't hesitate. He threw off his gloves and followed Abby into her lab.

Gibbs and Tony began throwing punches and deflecting them. Ziva had enough of the punching bag and watched the fight, waiting for her turn.

"Officer David," a voice said from the side, "suit up!"

Ziva turned to look at the Director. She'd changed out of her suit into clothes much better suited for exercising. "Think you can still fight, Director?"

"Put on gloves and boots and we'll see!" Jenny said as she put on padded shoes.

Ziva did as she was requested. Jenny had finished before her.

"You have not lost your touch, Director!" Ziva said as she blocked a kick a short while into the fight.

"Of course I haven't! Just because I'm not in the field on a regular basis doesn't mean I forgot how to throw a punch, despite what Gibbs says!"

"Challenging me, Jen?" Gibbs was fighting Tony, but he was still Gibbs. He could do anything and pay complete attention to something else going on across the room.

"Only if you're up for it!"

Gibbs brought Tony down with a kick to the back of the knee.

"Ow…" Tony groaned from the floor.

Ziva and the Director were a pretty fair match. After a few more minutes, they called truce. Gibbs was already on the floor and had put on padded shoes to match his gloves.

Tony and Ziva retreated to a wall where they discovered that Professor McGonagall was in the room.

"Professor," Ziva greeted. "How long have you been here?"

"Long enough!" McGonagall replied. "What are you doing?" She sounded shocked and maybe even a little disturbed.

"We're fighting, Professor. Being able to is a part of our job!" Tony explained. "Oh… this is going to be better than Jackie Chan vs. Mr. Miyagi!"

"Mr. Miyagi is from 'Karate Kid', yes?"

"Very good, Ziva David! I guess that movie class did teach you something!"

Ziva punched Tony's arm.

"Would you quit distracting me? They're about to start!" Tony blindly batted Ziva's hand away. "Ten bucks on Gibbs!"

"Very well. I bet ten on the Director," Ziva answered. They shook hands.

"What's the point in knowing how to do this? It seems… violent." McGonagall winced as Jenny twisted Gibbs' arm behind his back. He kicked his leg back and moved it in such away that it caught the back of Jenny's leg and she tripped, letting go.

"Our jobs are violent. What is it you think we do, Professor? Yeah, we sit at desks until we figure out who done it, but then we have to go get the person. People don't tend to react kindly when you tell them they're going to prison," Tony said without taking his eyes off the fight.

"Sometimes we are put on protection detail. The people we are assigned to protect are often Navy and Marine officials. Many people do not like them. We keep them from being harmed," Ziva elaborated.

"Or we protect families from people trying to kill them. Kate and I almost got blown up doing that once. Some crazy chick down the street."

"Who is this 'Kate' person you keep mentioning?" McGonagall tried to keep her focus off the fight.

"Agent Caitlin Todd, formerly a Secret Service agent, protecting the President. After that, she became Special Agent Katelyn Todd of NCIS. Ziva took her spot two years later," Tony said shortly.

"Why did she leave?"

"She didn't leave on her own will, Professor," Tony finally turned away from the fight briefly to look at the teacher. "Agent Todd was shot in the head by a sniper on the job." He turned away again.

Professor McGonagall felt sick again. She hoped the regular occurrence of such a thing would end soon. Those hopes were thrown to the ground once Officer David started speaking again.

"Our jobs are not safe ones, Professor. I have almost been killed three times here. Once in a shootout, Tony was there, and twice doing under cover work. Again, Tony was there for one of them. There were several other times at Mossad. Tony has also been framed for murder and attacked by a Marine on steroids."

"Don't forget the time I got the plague and the time my car was blown up!" Tony added.

McGonagall began wishing she'd just stayed in her classroom for the time she had off.

"But wait, there's more!" Tony continued. He still had his eyes glued to the fight. "Gibbs almost had his neck snapped in half by a suspect once, was punched in the face and almost shot by another, and has barely survived an explosion set up by a crazy terrorist. Put him in a coma."

"The Director has been kidnapped and held hostage before," Ziva put in. She also did not spare a look at the professor.

"McGee hasn't had any edge of death experiences yet, but he has had a crazy fan of his books go through his trash and use the thrown out material as grounds for murder, and his sister was almost raped, but the convict exchanged that for a frame-up, instead," Tony listed.

"Not even Abby and Ducky have safe occupations. Abby has almost been killed in her lab with gas-laced evidence, almost been killed by her stalker, almost been killed by her lab assistant –"

"That's the guy that tried to frame me!"

" - , and almost shot by the same crazy fan of McGee's," Ziva wrapped up her thought.

"Before Ziva came Ducky was almost drained of all his blood, chopped up into itty-bitty pieces, and then shipped back to us in a barrel," Tony said. "And I think that covers everyone, doesn't it, Ziva?"

"Agent Todd, me, you, Gibbs, Jenny, McGee, Abby, and Ducky. We missed Jimmy."

"Oh, yeah! Palmer was almost shot by a suspect finishing his cleaning up. Later that week, Palmer totaled his car by crashing into the guy. _That_ covers everyone."

Professor McGonagall decided not to risk opening her mouth. She was absolutely disgusted. Certainly, lives had been endangered, but she hadn't imagined such brutal and outlandish methods.

"Since we're apparently losing energy, Gibbs, do you care to place stakes? Get motivation back up?" Jenny gasped.

"You name yours first!" Gibbs requested, aiming a kick towards Jenny's gut.

She twisted to avoid the kick before speaking again, "I win, I help on the case."

"I win, you stay in your office and do your job, and let me do mine!"

"Fair." Jenny copied Gibbs' previous move and sent her foot racing towards his stomach.

Gibbs caught Jenny's leg and pulled. She landed on her back, knocking the wind out of her. Gibbs quickly placed a knee on her chest, wrapped one hand around the back of her head until he could get his fingers around her jaw, and the other hand on the side of her face. "66 pounds of torque, twist, _snap_." He stood up and started walking away. "Enjoy your office. I'm hitting the showers."

"Pay up, Zee-vah!" Tony said joyously, holding his hand out in front of the Israeli.

Jenny pushed herself onto her elbows and watched the exchange of money take place. She raised an eyebrow at Tony.

"Uhh…" Tony said awkwardly. "It's a consolation prize for you, Director."

"DiNozzo," Jenny wheezed, stopping his progression towards her, "go shower."

"On it, Director!" He took off towards the doorway that had appeared when Gibbs left.

Ziva walked over towards Jenny and extended a hand. The Director took it and allowed herself to be pulled up.

"Do not look at me like that, Jenny! I bet on you!" Ziva defended herself. Jenny rolled her eyes and led the way to the showers. McGonagall was left in the large area by herself. She conjured a chair and sat down in it heavily.

Doors slid open and a pale faced, black haired woman stuck her head out and looked around before pulling the rest of her body out of her lab. "Come on, Timmy!"

"Abby, seriously, I'm sure you can shoot just fine!" McGee said exasperatedly, following the scientist out.

"Anyone can figure out how to pull a trigger, but I don't have the right stance, McGee! You never know when that can come in handy. Or do I need to remind you of your crazy obsessed fans again?"

McGee sighed. "Alright, fine." He pulled the gun out of its holster on his hip, made sure the safety was on, and handed it to Abby. "Show me your stance."

Abby jumped into the air and landed with one foot in front of the other, gun poised at the wall across her.

"That's pretty good, Abby! What do you need my help for?"

"I lied," she admitted. "Ziva taught me stance. Teach me how to aim!"

"Abby!" McGee exclaimed, "No!"

"Awe, come on, Tim! Why not?"

"Because that involves actually shooting and Gibbs is around here somewhere and he's liable to sneak up behind me and beat the crap out of me for letting you have my gun!" McGee replied in one breath.

"Gibbs just finished an epic battle with the Director. He's in the shower. He won't here a thing! Come on, show me!"

"Abby, why don't you just ask Gibbs to show you how to aim when he comes out?"

"Because Gibbs is going to tell me to get back to work!"

"And I haven't?"

"I can manipulate you easier. That and you understand the concept of 'things take time' far better than Gibbs."

McGee grabbed the gun from Abby's hands, put it back in the holster and threw his hands up, "I'm not doing it!" He turned around and went back into the lab.

"Tonight, while you sleep," Abby snarled, following McGee.

"What are you going to do, huh?"

"Pick a chemical, any chemical. I will find a way to kill you with it and not leave a single shred of evidence!"

The doors slid shut, cutting off McGee's response from the professor who felt her sanity draining.

Professor McGonagall thoroughly enjoyed the next ten minutes of silence before Gibbs re-entered the bull pen that had reclaimed its spot outside the morgue and lab. Thankfully, he kept up the silence, though his presence alone was irritating the professor.

"DiNozzo, you bring that towel near me and I will kill you!" Ziva said as she backed out of the shower room in clean clothes, her hair down her back in a braid.

Tony came out of the showers as well in a fresh suit, a wet rolled towel in one hand, and a crazed look on his face. "With what and how many possible ways?"

"I will kill you with my thumb, Tony!" she declared, holding it up for effect.

Tony's eyes popped and he looked more interested. "Really? That's an interesting trick. Tell me about it, I've always wondered how it's done."

"I am about to demonstrate it on you!"

Tony raised the arm that had the towel at the end, but before he could flick it at his partner, the Director came up from behind and snatched it out of his hand. "Irritating though you are, Agent DiNozzo, I'd like to keep you around for a bit longer." She threw the towel to the side and the floor swallowed it before she headed off towards the stairs leading to her office.

"Well that's quite a different attitude from last night when you were about to let Ziva tear my brain out through my nose, Director!"

"Women are allowed to have mood swings, DiNozzo," she replied without looking at him and continued her ascent up the stairs.

The entrance to the Room of Requirement suddenly burst open and the boys Jenny recognized to be Harry Potter and his friend Ron Weasley tumbled in.

"Potter! Weasley! What do you think you're doing?!" McGonagall snapped, rising from her seat to tower over them.

"She told us she wanted to talk to them!" Ron wheezed, waving his hand at the agents and doubling over.

"Lavender is threatening to jump of a ledge on the fourth floor, Professor!" Harry explained, placing his hands on his knees, trying to regain his breath.

"Tony, get McGee from Abby's. Ziva, grab your gear. Let's go," Gibbs commanded harshly.

Tony was gone and back in less than thirty seconds with the junior agent and both of them grabbed their backpacks, badges, and guns.

"Lead the way," Gibbs told the boys. They took off running. "Jen, come on," Gibbs said, sounding very much like he didn't want to say it.

Jenny hurried down the stairs, taking off her heels as she went, and met Gibbs at the door. They ran to catch up with everyone else.

Ducky had noticed the commotion and come out of his morgue. Abby had exited her lab with McGee. She looked over at the doctor.

"I really do hope I don't need a second table," he sighed.

Professor McGonagall backed out of the room before anything else was said and hurried off, following the sound of fourteen running feet across the halls.

* * *

Next chapter - Another Piece to the Puzzle

I can't think of anything witty to say... a very rare moment, indeed.

Please leave a review! They brighten up my day so much! :D


	8. Another Piece to the Puzzle

**Another Piece to the Puzzle**

"Lavender! Don't do it! Think of Parvati! What would she say?"

"What's the point?"

"Hermione, Ginny, shut it!" Ron snapped as he, Harry, and a swarm of NCIS agents came around the corner. The girl with bushy brown hair and the young red head stepped back from the window.

"Her name's Lavender Brown, she's our age, thirteen. We were going to our next class when we saw her out here," Hermione quickly supplied.

Professor McGonagall joined the group. "You four, back to class," she ordered quickly.

"No, they stay," Gibbs countermanded. "DiNozzo, interview."

Tony ushered the kids off to the side to ask them questions.

Gibbs leaned out the open window slightly. "Hello," he said calmly.

The girl on the edge shot him one terrified glance, then returned her attention to the ground so far below her.

"What are you doing out here, Lavender?"

"No," the girl said to herself. "No, no, no! He said not to tell! He told me not to tell…"

Gibbs turned his back to the window. "She's out of it. Ziva, can you get out onto the roof?" Gibbs pointed to where the upper floors ended, leaving the roof of the fourth floor.

Ziva stuck her head out the window for a moment. "I will need rope to get to the girl, but yes, I will be able to get onto the roof."

"Rope?" Hermione broke her steadfast attention to Tony. "Is that what you need? Pardon me, Ginny." The girl plucked a single strand of hair from the red head and waved her wand at it. The hair turned into rope and continued to grow longer. "How much do you need?"

"Perhaps…seventy feet?" Ziva didn't hide the confused look on her face.

The rope coiled on the ground and stopped growing. Hermione picked it up and handed it to Ziva. "It's strong, I promise."

"Thank you, Miss Granger, was it?"

"Yes," Hermione tried to smile, but she was too nervous to make it look real.

Ziva turned back to Gibbs. "Will she notice me?"

"I don't think so. Get out and on your way, I'll keep her distracted," Gibbs volunteered.

Ziva slung the coil of rope onto her shoulder and stepped out onto the windowsill. "Oh… that is a long way to fall," she commented. Each floor of Hogwarts was twice as tall as a normal one. Ziva felt like she was staring down eight or ten floors, not four.

"I know that, Ziva!" Gibbs growled.

"Going!" she said. She stretched one leg out to the side and tested her weight on it before sliding out of sight.

Tony came over to Gibbs, McGee, and Jenny after asking a few more questions. "I know why Miss Brown is out on a ledge threatening to jump," he claimed. "She was McDonald's girlfriend."

"Crap," Jenny said under her breath.

Gibbs stuck his head back out the window. "Lavender?"

"No! Shhh," she said more to herself than Gibbs.

"Talk to me for a minute. Look over here."

"No!" Lavender snapped. "He said he'd do it again if I told!"

"Who said he'd do what?" Gibbs asked.

"Oh…" Lavender exhaled unsteadily. She pursed her lips and shook her head.

"Gibbs," Jenny said slowly, "she said 'he'd do it again.' If he killed, why wouldn't she just say 'kill again'?"

Gibbs swore under his breath. "I hope you're wrong. You try."

Jenny stepped up to the window. She looked the girl over quickly, taking interest in her hands. Her nails were bright pink and some of the color had chipped off. "Lavender," she started with soft tones, "my name is Jenny. Can you tell me what he did?"

"Leave me alone!"

"You asked us here. We're here. Talk to me."

"I can't! He said it'd happen to someone else!"

"So it won't happen to you again. If you talk to me, I can make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else…" Jenny tried to reason.

"No… no! He said he'd know right away. 'Don't say anything,' he told me, 'I'll do it again!'"

"Lavender, you don't have to talk to us. Just come back here to the window. Come back inside."

"I don't want to!" the girl cried.

"Professor," Gibbs started as Jenny continued, "is there anything you can do to make sure she won't get hurt if she does fall?"

McGonagall tried to ignore her student's shouts. "Not from this height."

"We can go get Dumbledore!" Harry volunteered.

"Gibbs! Ziva's in position!" Tony called.

"Get these kids back to class," Gibbs requested. He headed back to the window without saying anything else.

"You wanted them here!" McGonagall argued.

"To ask them questions, Professor! We've done that. Get them out of here! None of you are going to like what comes next," Gibbs snapped. "McGee!" he shouted.

"I'm here, Boss!"

"Go get Ducky. Ziva's going to have one hell of a bruise."

McGee ran off.

McGonagall started feeling uneasy. She wanted to stay and make sure her student was safe. "Potter, Granger, Weasleys, go tell Professor Dumbledore what happened and that we'll be in the Room of Requirement."

The four students sprinted off down the hall.

"I asked you to go with them, Professor McGonagall!" Gibbs snarled.

"I'm staying where I am! Get my student back inside!" McGonagall drew herself to full height, ready to continue arguing.

Gibbs huffed and turned his attention back to the window.

Ziva was standing on the roof with rope tied tightly around her waist. Gibbs gave her a thumbs up and she began slowly descending the slope of the roof. "Keep that girl's attention occupied," he whispered to Jenny.

"Lavender, if you don't come in, we're going to have to make you."

"I'd like to see you try!" Lavender's last word came out as a scream.

Ziva dropped from the roof and grabbed the girl. Somewhere in the middle of that, Lavender hit her head on the outside of the school. Ziva was holding a thirteen year old's dead weight with one arm. "Gibbs!" she called out.

"Tony! Get out there, go!" Gibbs snapped.

Tony did as he was told, climbing out the window and sliding off to the side just as Ziva had before. Gibbs wasn't far behind.

Jenny was left alone by the window, nails in mouth. "Come on, Jethro!"

The two men suddenly appeared on the roof, running towards their hanging colleague. They both wrapped their hands around the rope. "On three," Gibbs ordered. "One, two, three, pull!" He and Tony pulled with all their might. "Pull!"

Slowly but surely, Ziva's head appeared over the top of the roof. She handed the passed out girl to Gibbs. "Tony, drop me," she requested through gritted teeth.

"Ziva, just give me your hand, I'll pull you up."

"Tony!" she yelled, "I know what I am doing! Drop the rope!"

Tony did what he was told and the woman fell thirty feet before the rope refused to go any further. Ziva gasped in pain, then swung herself towards the stone wall. She got footholds and grabbed the edge of a rock with one hand. With her leftover limb, she reached down to her shoe and pulled a knife out of it. There was a flash of the blade and the rope was severed. The Israeli began free climbing back towards the window.

"How are we getting the girl back to the window, Boss?" Tony asked as they stared at the five feet across, three feet down of flat stone wall between them and the window.

"I was thinking we'd throw her, DiNozzo. Fifteen bucks says I could make it," Gibbs said with extreme sarcasm.

McGonagall stepped up to the window and looked up at the stranded men. "Here," she offered, flicking her wand. Stones slid out of the wall, creating stairs down to the window.

"You first, Tony."

Tony began the descent quickly, jumping back into the window. He held his arms out. Gibbs passed the knocked out student to his agent and climbed through the window himself. The stones slid back into place.

"Gibbs!" Ziva called again. Gibbs looked out the window. The Mossad officer was just a few feet below now. "Catch!" She threw the rope still attached to her waist up.

Gibbs caught the twisted fibers. Jenny picked up the slack behind him and they pulled Ziva up through the window. She immediately sat down and leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.

Gibbs put pressure oh his subordinate's shoe. "Can you feel that, Ziva?"

"Yes, I can Gibbs. I am fine."

"Good Lord!" Ducky exclaimed, coming into view. "Mr. Palmer, bandage up Miss Brown here, please."

"Right away, Doctor!" The ME's assistant crouched down by the unconscious girl and set to work, wiping the blood trickling down her forehead.

Ducky hurried over towards Ziva. He began his check up. "What happened, Jethro?"

"She fell about thirty feet. The rope stopped her going further."

"Oh, my!" Ducky held up a finger. "Follow my finger, Ziva." Ziva's eyes showed nothing unusual. Her head hadn't been injured in the snapping it endured at the end of her fall. Ducky untied the rope from around her waist.

"I am fine, Ducky!" Ziva pushed herself up.

"Really, Officer David?" Gibbs said disbelievingly. "Your waistband says differently."

The band of Ziva's pants were turning red.

"Let's… get you back home, my dear," Ducky suggested.

Gibbs grabbed Ziva's arm and slung it over his shoulder. She gasped involuntarily. The dead weight she'd held had taken a toll. Gibbs went around to her other side and took that arm instead.

"I can walk, Gibbs!" Ziva said irritably.

"Humor me, Ziva," Gibbs demanded.

"Miss Brown is going to be just fine!" Jimmy said proudly, standing up.

"Alrighty, then. Probie, grab her ankles. I've got the wrists," Tony took charge.

"Let me make things a bit easier for you," McGonagall stepped in again with the flick of her wand. A stretcher appeared.

"Or we could just put her on that and avoid bruising! Sounds like a plan!" Tony said with a smile. He and McGee laid the girl on it and each took an end. "Ready… lift!"

Ducky and Jimmy led the way out of the hall, followed by Gibbs supporting Ziva, then Jenny, Tony and McGee carrying Lavender on a stretcher after her, and Professor McGonagall bringing up the rear.

* * *

Next chapter - Hidden Wounds

And you all thought there'd onyl be one victim! Pah! What fun would that be?

I have to go get rid of the spiders infesting my room, but I would appreciate you telling me what you thought of the chapter! Review, please! :D


	9. Hidden Wounds

**Hidden Wounds**

"Is anyone hurt? Is Miss Brown alright?" Dumbledore asked the second Ducky opened the door to the Room of Requirement.

"We're all fine, Professor," Ducky assured. "Miss Brown hit her head, but she'll be just fine in no time."

Dumbledore looked very relieved.

"Who's going where, Duck?" Gibbs asked. He was holding almost all of Ziva's weight by now. The blood coming from the cut around her waist was quickly drenching her pants.

"Ziva will come with me. Mr. Palmer, bring Miss Brown to an interrogation room. She's more likely to feel comfortable in a place where she can see everything. Get her a pillow and blanket, as well," Ducky instructed.

Jimmy, Tony, and McGee headed towards a door that appeared in the wall.

"Ducky, I am fine, really! I just need to wash it off," Ziva complained weakly.

Ducky rolled down part of her waistband, revealing a fraction of the cut surrounded by burn. "Does that look like it just has to be washed off, Officer David?" The frustrated doctor took the wounded woman from Gibbs and made his way to the room he was most familiar with. "Tell Abby I'll need a numbing agent!" he called over his shoulder.

As if on cue, Abby came out of her lab looking very worried. "What happened? Whose hurt? Why does Ducky need an anesthetic?" Abby paused in her quick speaking and closed her eyes tightly. "Positive thoughts, Abby! Positive thoughts!" Her eyes flew open. "Ok, Gibbs is fine, Director's alright… Where are Tony and McGee?! Where's Ziva? Gibbs! What happened?!" Abby's brief moment of almost calmness ended.

"Abbs! Take a breath!" Gibbs walked over to the panicking scientist and laid his hands on her shoulder. "Tony and McGee are fine. Ziva's cut. Now go get what Ducky asked for!" He forcibly turned her around and gave her a shove back to her lab.

Jimmy came out of the interrogation room. "Um… where'd Doctor Mallard go?"

"He's helping Ziva. What's up, Palmer?" Gibbs queried.

"We thought that the girl had just hit her head… we were wrong. Tony grabbed her wrists to get her off the stretcher. They were already bruised. She covered them with make-up."

Jenny and Gibbs shared an unhappy look.

Before Jimmy could ask what that meant, Abby came back out of her lab with several bottles. "I got what Ducky asked!" she exclaimed, trying to push her way past Gibbs.

"I'll bring them to him, Abby. You go with Palmer and find the other bruises that girl covered up."

"What?"

"Abby, just go!" Gibbs growled. Abby handed him the bottles and went with the ME's assistant.

Tony and McGee came out of the interrogation room and went straight to their desks.

"Pull up the pictures from last night, McGee," Tony requested.

Jenny looked over at the witch and wizard still standing at the door. They looked confused and scared for their student. "Professors, why don't you come up to my office with me?" she requested, gesturing to the stairs. Jenny made it halfway up the stairs before calling down to Tony, "Let me know when she wakes up."

"You've got it, Director!" Tony replied. Jenny went up the rest of the stairs and into her office and closed the door.

Abby flung open the interrogation room door and stomped into the bull pen. "That girl has bruises all over!" she fumed. "It must have taken a whole container of cover-up!"

"Abby, Probie, what do you see in this picture here?" Tony asked them, staring at the plasma screen.

"I see a bunch of cleaning supplies and a dead body. Am I supposed to see something different?" McGee quipped.

"I think I see it," Abby said thoughtfully, "top left corner of the frame?"

"Yeah, the pile of cleaning supplies that looks like someone had been sitting on or under," Tony said heavily. "Lavender Brown is wearing pink nail polish, Abby."

"I know," she responded, "I got a sample of it off her. I'll go compare it now." She hurried off back to her lab.

"You think Brown was there?" McGee asked.

"No, Probie! I think it was another teenage girl going around with covered up bruises and chipped pink nail polish!" Tony snapped.

McGee looked at his computer screen briefly. "What do you think the bruises are from?"

"Probably from an assailant, McGee! Maybe the same one that shot her boyfriend in the chest! I'm just guessing, though."

Gibbs came out of Ducky's and went straight to his desk.

"How's Ziva, Boss?" McGee quickly asked.

"She'll be alright. We have to make sure she doesn't do anything too physically involved," Gibbs answered.

"That won't be difficult at all," Tony remarked sarcastically. Gibbs reached his hand out and smacked the other agent upside the head. "Getting back to work, Boss!"

"I want to look through Brown and McDonald's rooms," Gibbs said as he sat down and began shuffling things around.

"I don't think Professor McGonagall is going to like that idea…" McGee said slowly.

Gibbs leaned forward on his elbows. "Professor McGonagall needs to get used to the idea that she has to let us do out jobs our way."

"Right." McGee quickly turned his attention back to his computer.

"Boss, we were thinking – "

Gibbs cut Tony off, "That Brown was with McDonald under a pile of cleaning supplies when he was shot?"

"Uh… Yeah," Tony said confusedly. "I was also thinking – "

"That McDonald's bruised knuckles are from trying to defend his girlfriend? Well that's a pretty good guess, DiNozzo. Now tell me what McDonald and Brown were doing out of their rooms at 3:30 in the morning."

"It's boarding school, Boss," Tony explained, "Kids go out of their rooms all the time just because they can."

"They didn't need to," McGonagall put in, coming down the stairs, "They were in the same House, they could have just gone down to the Common room."

"House?" Tony asked.

McGonagall raised an eyebrow at him. "So you weren't listening to everything Dumbledore told you. Hogwarts is divided into four houses: Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Gryffindor. Each house has its own common room and branching from the common room are girls' dormitories on the left, the boys' on the right. Gavin and Lavender were both in Gryffindor."

"Then that just proves my point, Professor. If they had no legitimate reason, then they went out just because they could."

"Where's the Gryffindor common room?" Gibbs asked McGonagall.

"Why?" she said suspiciously.

"I want to look through the kids' rooms and talk to their roomies."

"No."

"If you don't show us, we'll show ourselves," Gibbs growled. A map appeared on his desk.

"Good luck getting in. There's a password!"

"Is there really? What house are Potter, Granger, and the Weasleys from?"

McGonagall's lips tightened and she didn't answer.

"I'll take that as Gryffindor. DiNozzo, McGee, grab your gear!"

"Shouldn't we wait for Ziva, Boss?" McGee asked.

Jimmy came out of interrogation before Gibbs made a reply. "She's awake!" He hurried off to the stairs to tell the Director.

* * *

Next chapter - Make-Up Remover

I definately need your awesome reviews! I shall cry myself to sleep without them.


	10. MakeUp Remover

**Make-Up Remover**

Jenny followed Jimmy down the stairs, and Dumbledore came after her.

"The McDonalds are due to arrive soon," he whispered to his deputy in explanation of his leaving. He was out the door a moment later.

Ducky came out of his morgue. "I give you Officer Ziva David!" Ziva came out of the morgue in the same shirt as earlier, but had exchanged her pants for sweats. "No workouts for you tomorrow morning, my dear!"

"I need you in observation, Duck," Gibbs requested.

"Miss Brown has awakened, I take it?" Ducky smiled and walked through the door Gibbs held open.

"DiNozzo, McGee, Ziva, in." Gibbs twitched his head towards the open door.

"You know, Officer David, I think sweats look marvelous on you!" Tony teased.

"I can easily arrange for them to be a necessity for you as well, DiNozzo!"

"Would you like to watch, Professor?" Gibbs said, sounding as if he only said it on principle.

McGonagall walked through the still open door after a slight hesitation. Gibbs slammed the door behind her.

"Play nice, Jethro!" Jenny said as if to a child.

"Funny, Jen." Gibbs opened the interrogation room door for her.

"You mean you're asking for my help?"

"I'm playing nice," he said smartly. He entered and leaned against the mirror.

Jenny took the one of the seats at the table. "Lavender? I'm Director Jenny Sheppard. This is Special Agent Gibbs."

The girl was curled up in the corner of the room. Jimmy had, as told, gotten her a pillow and blanket. She hugged the pillow and covered herself as much as possible with the blanket. Nothing was visible but her head. She didn't look up when she was addressed.

"Look, Lavender, we want to help you. But you have to talk to us first," Gibbs told her. His voice was much more humane sounding than usual.

"I can't!" the girl spoke so quickly it was hardly understandable.

"Why not?" Jenny took her turn to speak.

"He told me not to!"

"Won't he notice you're gone?" Gibbs asked. "I think that'll tip him off that something's not right." The man pulled himself off the mirror and took a couple of steps forward. "He's going to think that you've told. Whether you tell us or not doesn't matter anymore. It'll happen again."

The girl didn't react in any way for a moment. Then she threw the blanket off her and dashed towards the door. Gibbs beat her there and effectively stopped her with an arm around her stomach. He directed her to the seat across from Jenny, sat her down, and then stood in front of the door.

Lavender was trembling and wringing her hands. Her lips moved, but no sound was coming out.

"You have to talk to us if you want whatever is happening to stop," Jenny persuaded.

"He knows!" Tears started rolling down Lavender's cheeks. "Someone else is going to get hurt and it's your fault! Why didn't you just leave me alone!?"

"No one else is going to get hurt if you just tell us what happened!" Gibbs felt like he said it for the thousandth time.

"Ok, fine. Don't tell us," Jenny said, "Just answer a few yes or no questions for us."

Gibbs widened his eyes towards Jenny. She glared back.

"Lavender, were you out of your dorm early Tuesday morning?"

The girl didn't respond verbally, but she physically tensed.

"Were you with Gavin?"

Again, no verbal response, but Lavender's eyes began darting around the room as if looking for an escape.

"Did you see the person that killed Gavin?"

Behind the glass, Professor McGonagall was getting angrier and angrier. "I think that's enough! The poor girl's a complete wreck!"

"It is best that we question her now, Professor, before she changes her story," Ziva said calmly.

McGonagall was about to snap some more, but a quiet "Yes," from the other side of the glass stopped her short.

"Did that person hurt you, too?"

Lavender nodded and wrapped her arms around her stomach and began to rock back and forth.

"How did he hurt you?" Jenny asked quietly, trying to look into the downcast eyes of the thirteen year old.

Lavender didn't respond.

"Do you know who hurt you and who killed Gavin?"

Lavender shook her head from side to side. "He had his face covered."

Jenny sighed heavily. "We're going to have someone come in here and run a few tests to try to figure out who did this, alright?"

The girl nodded weakly.

Jenny asked one last question, "Do you want me to call one of your friends down here to be with you?"

"Hermione," Lavender said quietly.

"Alright. We'll get her." Jenny and Gibbs left the room.

"Damn," Gibbs sighed.

The other door opened. Tony, McGee, Ziva, Ducky, and Professor McGonagall came out.

"I will get Abby," Ziva volunteered and started off.

"No, Ziva," Gibbs corrected. "Ducky will get Abby. We're going to go get Hermione and search dorms. Come on. Grab your gear."

The three agents did as they were told. They grabbed their bags, guns, and badges, then slammed NCIS hats onto their heads and put on their jackets.

"Are you going to take us there, Professor, or do I need to get a map?" Gibbs directed towards McGonagall.

As an answer, the teacher joined Tony, Ziva, and McGee at the door.

* * *

Next chapter - The Gryffindor Common Room

Bad guys! RAWR!

I love reviews with every fiber of my earthly being! :)


	11. Gryffindor Common Room

**The Gryffindor Common Room**

"Oh man," Tony said as the group entered the Gryffindor common room. "I wish our lounges at school had been this nice…"

The common room was large, circular, had a fire going, and was full of extremely comfortable looking seats.

"Where is everyone?" McGee asked.

"At lunch," McGonagall replied in a tone suggesting it was obvious.

"Ziva, McGee, go down to the dining hall – "

"Great Hall," McGonagall corrected Gibbs.

Gibbs briefly gritted his teeth. "Go down to the _Great Hall_ and find Granger. Have her point out Brown's and McDonald's roomies. Ziva, take her back to headquarters so Abby can start testing. McGee, bring the other kids back here."

Ziva and McGee left to do as they were told.

"Who's on what floor?" Tony asked as he readjusted his hat and looked up one of the spiral staircases.

"Miss Brown will be to the left and on the top floor, and Mr. McDonald's room is to the right and on the third floor, I believe," McGonagall answered.

"Tony, Jenny, start on Brown's room. Ziva, McGee and I will get McDonald's." Tony handed the Director Ziva's backpack and the three agents split ways.

"WAHHH!!!" Tony screamed. The stairs below his feet melted together and created a slide he couldn't go up. He was now laying on the common room floor, his limbs sticking out at odd angles.

"I suppose I should have mentioned that those who possess a Y chromosome can't get up the stairs to the girls' dormitories," McGonagall said thoughtfully.

"That would have been nice," Tony said weakly.

"DiNozzo, get up and get over here!" Gibbs called. He had hardly paused when Tony slid down the stairs.

"On your 6, Boss!" Tony stood up and groaned in pain. "Ah, I miss the normal cases," he muttered to himself as he limped across the common room to the boys' dorms.

"Could you send Ziva up when she comes back, Professor?" Jenny requested from just two steps above the stone slide. McGonagall nodded and Jenny continued her journey up the spiral staircase.

McGee came back into the common room with four students a little while later.

"You're sure she asked for Hermione, and not Parvati?" the only girl asked. She had long, dark hair that was pulled into a braid and darker skin with deep brown eyes.

"Yes, I'm sure," McGee said exasperatedly, as if he'd answered several times before.

"But why would she do that? _I'm _her best friend!"

"Miss Patil, I have absolutely no idea. I didn't ask. I just do what I'm told."

Parvati Patil crossed her arms and sat down heavily on one of the crimson colored armchairs.

The three boys that had been McDonald's roommates didn't say anything. They just sat down and tried to look like they didn't care about what was going on at all.

"McGee, if that's you, you'd better be on your way up here!" Gibbs' voice called from the staircase to the right.

"Just stay down here, please," McGee requested of the students before he took off up the staircase.

"Professor, what's going on?" Parvati fumed.

McGonagall was saved from answering by Ziva's return. "We are searching your rooms," she said simply.

"Gee, thanks, _Professor_," Parvati said sourly. "Why?"

"To see if we can find out why your roommates were attacked."

"You mean why Gavin was attacked. Lavender didn't have anything to do with it. I would have known if she'd snuck out of our room!" Parvati said hotly.

Jenny came down the girls' stairs. "Ziva!" she said gratefully. "I need your help!"

Ziva started off.

"Lavender is fine, isn't she?" Parvati's voice was suddenly extremely different. It was low, caring, and frightened.

"No," Ziva said shortly. She took the stairs two at a time, leaving a stunned thirteen year old girl in her wake.

Ziva followed Jenny up to the top of the spiral staircase and entered the open door. She blinked several times. There were things _everywhere_. Make-up and nail polish covered two of the dressers, and clothes were strewn all over.

"I've hardly even made a dent yet!" Jenny admitted. "Miss Brown and Miss Patil like looking nice." She returned to the trunk she'd thrown open earlier and continued pulling out its contents.

Ziva didn't want to deal with the trunks packed with clothes. She moved onto the dresser that had pink letters on it spelling out "Lavender" and began sifting through the tens of bottles of various colored nail polishes.

* * *

Up on the other side of the Tower, Gibbs, Tony, and McGee were having their own difficulties. The third year girls' dorm was a mess, sure, but it had a sort of rhythm to it. There was no such luck with the fourth year boys' room. Everything was everywhere. The grown men couldn't even tell what was whose, and so had to go through everything.

"I remember my room being a little bit neater than this!" Tony exclaimed from over by one of the beds.

"Why do I not believe you?" McGee asked as he flipped through a book quickly. Nothing was stuck in it, and he threw it off to the side.

"Believe me or not, you could still see the floor of my dorm room, and there was clear separation of everyone's things."

"Tony, I've seen your apartment."

"And what does that mean, Probie?" Tony asked defensively.

"He means you're a slob, DiNozzo!" Gibbs growled. "Shut up and work!"

Tony did, in fact, shut his mouth. He only returned to work, however, after throwing a pair of socks that could have been clean or dirty at the junior field agent.

"Alright," Gibbs said lowly to himself, "I'm done being careful with all this junk!" He began simply throwing things over his shoulder.

"Uhh… Boss?"

"Do you think they'll notice, McGee? Come on, do you want to get done or not?"

After a slight hesitation, McGee and Tony started being less careful with the possessions.

Gibbs' phone started ringing. All three of the agents stopped working and looked confused. Professor McGonagall had said their phones wouldn't work outside the Room of Requirement. Gibbs looked at the caller ID. "It's Abby. Keep working, I'll be back in a minute." He flipped his phone open and walked out of the room. "Yeah, Abbs?"

Gibbs' footsteps and voice got louder and louder to the people in the common room. He stopped suddenly at the bottom of the stairs. "Did you get DNA?" He paused and the voice of someone else was heard from the phone in his hand, though it was not comprehendible. Gibbs took off his NCIS hat and rubbed his head. "Send the friend back to her dorm when Brown lets her." Gibbs hung up and continued his way across the common room towards the opposing staircase.

"I thought you said our phones wouldn't work, Professor," Gibbs said without stopping.

"I told Professor Dumbledore about your communication issue. He said he'd take care of it. Are you complaining?" McGonagall smartly replied.

Gibbs didn't respond, just kept moving.

"Agent Gibbs, what's going on?" McGonagall demanded.

Gibbs stopped, sighed heavily, then walked over towards the teacher. He whispered something to her and then continued his journey to the other staircase, leaving a completely frozen McGonagall in his wake. "Ziva! Jenny!" he shouted up the stairs.

"You can just go up, you know," one of the fourth year boys said hopefully.

"Nice try, kid," Gibbs said humorlessly. "I already tried sending Agent DiNozzo up there."

Ziva appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "We are almost done," she told her boss, "The Director is putting a few things back. She will be right down."

Jenny came down a moment later and Gibbs led the way back across the room to the boys' staircase.

"Hold on a second," Jenny protested as Gibbs' began ascending the stairs, "I'm not winding up like DiNozzo!"

"Boys can't go up the girls dorms, but girls can go up to the boys. It's weird like that," Parvati provided from her seat.

Jenny took a few unsure steps. The stairs did not turn into a slide and she and Ziva made it up to the seemingly floorless boys' room.

"Oh my…" Jenny breathed. The mess before her was nearly knee deep.

"Ziva, close the door," Gibbs growled. Ziva did as she was told, then began to help get through the mass of random items. "Lavender Brown was raped," Gibbs informed, "Abby said there wasn't any DNA."

There was a brief period of silence. "What if Lavender was the original target?" Jenny suggested.

"Tony, Ziva, go question the roommates. I want to know everything there is to know about this couple."

Tony gladly abandoned the mess and he and Ziva went down to the common room.

Gibbs, McGee, and Jenny continued sifting through the sea of mess until there was nothing that hadn't been moved from its original position. They quickly left and descended the spiral staircase. Tony was still speaking to McDonald's roomies. Ziva was questioning Parvati and Hermione, who had apparently been allowed to leave. Both of them joined their colleagues after a few more minutes.

Gibbs' phone rang again. This time, it was Ducky. The lead agent closed his phone after a short moment. "The McDonalds are here. Let's get going. They can go back to class," Gibbs told McGonagall as he passed and led the way out of the common room, back to temporary headquarters.

"DiNozzo, David, talk."

"Tight couple, Gibbs," Tony started. "Been going out since the last month of last school year. You couldn't find one without the other. Lavender was Gavin's girl, and everyone knew it."

"Both Miss Patil and Miss Granger said that Lavender did not have a stalker, nor did she have any interest in other boys, nor did she have any intention of breaking up with Gavin," Ziva summed up her interview. "Miss Patil did say that the couple was starting to spend more and more time alone. She sounded very irritated."

"Well yeah, Officer David! Her best friend was choosing her boyfriend over her! She's going to be a little bit ticked off," Gibbs responded. "Parents, here we come," he sighed heavily and pushed open the door to the Room of Requirement.

* * *

Next chapter - Parent Meeting

Reviews are very, very, very, very, very, very, very, VERY appreciated. :)


	12. Parent Meeting

**Parent Meeting**

Commander and Mrs. McDonald were waiting impatiently on a couch near the bull pen. The Commander was in uniform. A black jacket with sleeves decorated with gold stripes and stars, gold buttons, countless tiny badges on the left side of the jacket, and had his white hat on his lap. Mrs. McDonald was dressed in deep blue robes, a witch. They both stood up when Gibbs entered the room.

He walked straight over to them. "Commander. Mrs. McDonald." He shook both their hands. "I'm special Agent Gibbs. I'm running the investigation of your son's murder."

"I've heard a lot about you, Agent Gibbs," Commander McDonald said. "I trust that this case will be treated just as any other. It will be solved?"

"We will figure out who did this or die trying," Gibbs assured. He looked behind him. Tony, Ziva, and McGee retreated to their desks. "We'd like to ask you a few questions, and then we'll take you to see your son."

"Of course," Mrs. McDonald said through her slow but steady tears.

Jenny invited the couple to sit back down. She and Gibbs each took a seat that popped up behind them.

"So, Mrs. McDonald, we know what your husband does. What is it you do?" Gibbs asked.

"I'm a lawyer. I represent wizards and witches that are brought to court by Muggles," she explained.

"Do either of you work with anything sensitive?" Jenny took her turn.

"No," the Commander replied.

"Anything concerning Muggles and wizards is sensitive," Mrs. McDonald claimed, "but other than that, I do not deal with anything secretive."

"Tell us about Gavin."

"Oh," Mrs. McDonald's face lit up, "Gavin was a character!"

"He was really smart, funny, nice to be around kind of kid," the Commander said.

"He told us everything. If something was wrong, we'd have known. Why would someone do this?" Mrs. McDonald's smile fell.

"We haven't established a motive yet, Mrs. McDonald," Gibbs said evenly.

"That's all the questions we have for now. Would you like to see Gavin once more?" Jenny asked gently.

The Commander and his wife stood and followed Gibbs to the morgue. Ducky had covered the body with the exception of the head.

The tears sliding down Mrs. McDonald's face sped up, and her husband looked more and more dismal. Commander McDonald folded the sheet covering his son down until the wounds in his chest could be seen. He traced them mindlessly. Mrs. McDonald ran her fingers through her son's hair a few times.

"I never knew Gavin," Gibbs said lowly, "but I know he was a good kid. We think he went down trying to protect his girlfriend."

The McDonalds' heads snapped up. "Lavender?" Mrs. McDonald's voice was tight with stress. "Not Lavender, too! Is she in one of those?!" The woman ran over to the freezers and began throwing them open. Her husband came from behind and turned her towards him. She began crying into his shoulder.

"Lavender is alive," Gibbs assured the couple.

"Alive?" Mrs. McDonald pulled her face up to look at Gibbs. "Is she alright and alive?"

Gibbs was honestly impressed. These people were immersed in grief, but still very quick on the ball. "Alive, yes. Alright, no," he admitted.

"What happened?" Commander McDonald demanded.

Gibbs sighed, not sure if he should tell them or not. He made up his mind. "She was raped."

Commander McDonald's brows knit together, his lips tightened, and his eyes darkened. Mrs. McDonald had a sharp intake of breath. "Can I talk to her, please?"

"No," Gibbs said strongly. "It'd be best if she didn't see anyone for a while, especially you. She's up in the school's hospital wing, well cared for."

Mrs. McDonald nodded her head slowly. She and her husband said good bye to their son and left the morgue.

"Please, do whatever you have to do to find the person who did this," Mrs. McDonald said to Gibbs at the door.

"I want to know when you catch this sick son of a bitch," the Commander said hotly. He handed Gibbs a small card. "That has all my numbers."

"I'll let you know," Gibbs vowed. He shook the man's and the woman's hands and they went on their way. Gibbs put an arm on the door he'd just closed and slammed his forehead onto it. He just stood there like that for a moment. This is the part of his job that he absolutely hated. Talking to the family.

Gibbs kicked the door in frustration and turned around to walk back to the bull pen. He saw Professor McGonagall staring at him. She'd come back after getting the students back to class. "Can I help you, Professor?" As he expected, she didn't answer. "Ducky!" Gibbs shouted.

"I'm right here, Jethro!" Ducky said as he came out of Abby's lab. "Officer David needed her bandages changed and she wasn't being very – "

"Get Palmer and start the autopsy!" Gibbs cut the ME off. Ducky looked at his co-worker concernedly, but then did as asked and left for the morgue.

Gibbs sat down at his desk and hit a few keys on his computer far harder than need be. He looked around at the three empty desks in the bull pen agitatedly. "DiNozzo!" he yelled, "David! McGee! Come do your job!"

Two men and a woman hurried into the bull pen and each took their seats.

Gibbs was still on edge. He didn't seem able to concentrate.

Abby came out of her lab holding a piece of paper. She handed it to the lead agent. "The blood on the wall matches McDonald's. Sorry, Gibbs."

Gibbs crumpled up the piece of paper in his fist. "DiNozzo, McGee, go back and dust that entire hall for prints!"

Tony and McGee grabbed their bags, hats, and jackets and quickly left.

"What good are prints going to do if we have nothing we can compare them to? The students do not even have files, Gibbs," Ziva pointed out.

"They will soon," Gibbs growled. "Keep working. Tell Ducky to call me when he's done." He grabbed his own hat and jacket and began his way out the door.

"And just where are you going, Agent Gibbs?" McGonagall asked.

"To talk to Dumbledore."

"You'll need my assistance. You can't get in without a password."

"Gibbs, what are you doing now?" Jenny said exasperatedly as she came down the stairs from her office.

"My job, Jen! Is that a problem?" Gibbs threw open the door and stormed out. Both Jenny and Professor McGonagall hurried to follow him.

* * *

Next chapter - One of Those Mornings

Whuh oh! What happens next?

Anywho... I would very much appreciate a review from you. Yes, YOU! The one staring at your computer screen at this message trying to decide whether or not to click the green button. Click it.

Do it.

I dare you!


	13. One of Those Mornings

**One of Those Mornings**

Minerva McGonagall stood in front of the door leading to the Room of Requirement. 7:45. She could wait another five minutes to ruin her day, right? Sighing in frustration, she opened the door and expected to see the agents at work again. They did start work at seven, after all, according to the Director. Once again, she was surprised.

The only one awake was Gibbs. He sat at his desk, looking at something on his computer screen. His three agents had fallen asleep at their desks. The ME, his assistant, and the forensic scientist were no where to be seen. The Director was also no where in sight. That is, until McGonagall took a few steps further into the room. Jenny Sheppard was asleep, leaned against Gibbs' desk.

"What's going on?" McGonagall said quietly to Gibbs, "I thought you started work at 7!"

"Normally, we do," Gibbs replied evenly. "Ducky and Palmer finished the autopsy and went to bed at around midnight. Abby fell asleep waiting for lab results some time between two and three. McGee zonked out around 0330, Ziva around the same time. Tony managed to last until 0400. And Jen… I don't know when she fell asleep," Gibbs said, looking over the edge of his desk. "She came down here at 0415 and started looking at pictures. They'll be tired enough as it is now, forget waking them up at 0630."

"What about you?"

"I don't need much sleep," Gibbs answered. He then lightly kicked the inside of his desk, moving Jenny forward a couple of inches, then letting her fall. She woke with a start.

"Oh," she groaned, rubbing her eyes, "What time is it?"

"0747."

"That late, huh?" Jenny pushed herself up and looked at Professor McGonagall. "Are we wanted for breakfast again?"

"Yes," was all McGonagall managed to say. She was honestly very surprised at how late these people stayed up to work. They fell asleep at the time an hour or so before she woke up.

"Are you going to wake up everyone or should I?" Jenny asked Gibbs as she rolled her neck.

"I'll get it." Jenny left. Gibbs wadded up a piece of paper and threw it across the bull pen at Tony, who jumped and threw his head up with a sickening pop going all the way down his spine. "Morning. Naptime's over. Wake up your team mates." Gibbs got up from his desk and headed off to Abby's.

Tony was once again, looking very grumpy. He threw open a drawer in the filing cabinet to the side of his desk and pulled out a toothbrush, cup, and bottle of water. He wet the toothbrush and began running it over his teeth as he walked over to Ziva's desk. He kicked the front if it.

Ziva woke up with a snort and looked murderously at her colleague.

"Gihhs saih ish tihe to ge' uh," Tony said, still brushing his teeth.

"I am hitting the snooze button. Go away," she demanded, leaning forward on her arms again.

Tony took the brush out of his mouth briefly. "You can wake up McGee," he offered.

Ziva gave a slow, evil smile and stood up. She walked calmly over to the last sleeping agent's desk and leaned forward towards his ear. "MCGEE!!!!"

McGee lifted up his head to reveal eyes that were so wide open they could have been plates.

"Good morning!" Ziva greeted with exaggerated sweetness.

Gibbs came out of the lab. "Get changed. We've been invited to breakfast again."

"I'm sick," Tony tried.

"Your disease is contagious then, DiNozzo," Ziva told him.

"Both your diseases are going to be death if you don't get moving!" Gibbs threatened from out of sight.

"Someone hasn't had enough coffee yet," Tony stated. He threw his toothbrush into the glass of water on his desk and stalked out to go change. Ziva and McGee were not far behind him.

Abby was the first one in the bull pen looking at all ready. Her pink make-up from yesterday didn't really go to well with her red plaid dress, and her pigtails were slightly crooked, but she didn't care. She was exhausted, didn't have caf-pow, and if anyone tried to give her grief about the way she looked, they'd pay.

Ducky and Jimmy came into the bull pen not long after Abby. They both looked fairly well rested.

"Good morning, Abby!" Jimmy greeted.

"Easy for you to say," Abby growled.

Jimmy was about to ask what was wrong, but a look from Ducky stopped him just in time.

Everyone else was back in the bull pen within five minutes and followed McGonagall down to the Great Hall, which was already half full of students. The team took the same spots as they had the day before. However, there was much less joking and a lot more of shoveling food down one's throat eagerly.

"Might I ask why you all stayed up so late?" McGonagall said to Jenny.

"Gibbs is starting to obsess. His team doesn't want to let him down," Jenny said simply.

"Obsess?"

"Yeah… obsess. Surely you know what that means."

"I do, I just can't see Agent Gibbs doing it. He – no, everyone, just seems so detached from what's going on!" McGonagall put just a small amount of her frustration into her words.

"We deal with murders for a living, Professor," Jenny explained. "If we become attached to every single case, every single victim, we'd be more of wrecks than we already are."

"I see. Agent DiNozzo and Officer David told me about your… experiences yesterday."

"I heard," Jenny said. "Tony left out the time that Gibbs technically drowned and the time Agent Todd, Ducky, and his old assistant were held hostage by a terrorist. I'm surprised Tony talked about Kate. They try to not talk about her most of the time."

"Tony told you about Kate?" Ducky came into the conversation sounding very surprised.

"Yes..."

"The Director's right. No one ever talks about Kate. It's far too painful, especially for Gibbs, Tony, and Timothy. The case wasn't an easy one for Ziva either. I suppose Tony didn't venture into that at all, though."

"Ow! What the hell, Ziva?" Tony said sourly from down the line.

"I saw you take that biscuit off my plate, DiNozzo! Try it again and you will lose a hand!"

"How could you have possibly seen that? Your head was completely the other direction!"

"AH HA! You did take it!" Ziva exclaimed, turning and pointing a finger at her colleague.

Tony sighed agitatedly. "I really hate it when you do that."

"I thought Officer David came after Agent Todd…" McGonagall said slowly.

"Oh dear…" Ducky said to himself, "I do believe I've said too much!" He turned towards the other side of the table before he could slip up once more.

Professor McGonagall looked questioningly at Director Sheppard.

"Ziva's half brother was the sniper. He tried to kill me and Abby before Gibbs finally got him," Jenny said very quietly. "Double agent. He was trying to serve two masters at the same time."

The knot in McGonagall's stomach made another appearance.

Ziva could suddenly be heard snapping at Tony in Spanish. Tony started talking back. It snowballed into an entire Spanish argument.

"What are they talking about?" McGonagall raised her eyebrows at the argument that was gaining momentum.

"I don't know… I don't speak Spanish. Do you, Ducky?"

"No, Abby does, though. Abby!"

"Ducky!" Abby said back. Her voice hadn't regained its usual amount of energy, but it was coming.

"What are they bickering about now?" Ducky asked the Goth.

"Uhh…" Abby took a moment to listen. "Tony did something and Ziva's threatening to kill him fourteen different ways with her spoon."

"I've noticed that you all seem to threaten each other's lives quite a bit…" McGonagall said.

"Empty threats, mostly. It relieves some amount of stress," Ducky explained.

The doors to the Great Hall opened and someone sprinted through them straight towards the staff table, right to Professor Snape. Jenny couldn't hear what the student said, but Snape stood up immediately and rushed towards Dumbledore and whispered in his ear. The sparkle suddenly disappeared from the old man's eyes and the smile melted off his face.

Dumbledore stood up and addressed the student body. "Students, proceed to your first classes immediately." There was no room for disobeying in his voice. Students grabbed their bags; many also grabbed a piece of toast for the road, and hurried off.

"Dumbledore!" a teacher snapped somewhere down the line. Jenny thought it to be Professor Sprout, but couldn't be sure. "What is going on?"

"There's been another murder," Dumbledore informed. "Get to your class, take attendance. Students will not move to their second hour until I say!"

The shocked teachers hurried off as well. They all split at the doors and their shouts of "Get to class!" could be heard clearly from the back of the Great Hall. McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore remained.

Gibbs threw down his fork. He looked over at his still seated team. "What are you waiting for?" he yelled, "Go grab your gear!"

Tony, Ziva, and McGee all ran out of the Great Hall.

"Where are we going?" Gibbs demanded of Snape.

"The Astronomy tower," Snape hissed, disapproving of Gibbs being in his face.

"I want the kid's name that told you, and where I'll find him," Gibbs commanded again. He turned away. "Ducky! Palmer!" he barked, "What are you still doing here? Go get your stuff! Abby, get going on something!" Gibbs watched the three people hurry. "Jen, you coming?"

"No, I have to speak with – "

"That's all you had to say!" Gibbs snapped. He took off at full speed, nearly running over several students on his way out.

"See?" Jenny said to McGonagall. "Obsessing."

* * *

Next chapter - Crime Scene Two

Damn those evil enough to kill. -sigh- Making my favorite NCIS team and favorite school fly into a flurry. This is not cool!

Reviews are very much appreciated!


	14. Crime Scene Two

**Crime Scene Two**

Gibbs didn't allow any lagging. He and his team speed walked from their headquarters and followed a map to the Astronomy tower. Along the walls of the spiral staircase was another message, "_Unlike last year, no one is safe."_

A girl in the Hogwarts black robes lay in a pool of her own blood. A cut so deep one could see the bone stretched from the inside of her elbow to her wrist on both arms. Her skin was marble colored from all the blood loss. Her left leg stuck out at an extremely odd angle, suggesting it had been broken.

"Damn!" Tony said, looking at one of the gashes.

"Ziva, go find the writings on the wall," Gibbs began ordering.

"We already saw it, Gibbs!" Ziva reasoned.

"Why would some kid come up to the highest tower in the school, which is used for Astronomy, when it's sunny out? Something else tipped him off! Go find it!" Gibbs tried not to shout. Ziva hurried away.

"McGee, photos! DiNozzo, sketch!" Gibbs threw the camera at McGee, who barely caught it.

Ducky and Jimmy came close to five minutes later.

"Oh my…" Ducky said sadly. "What is this poor girl's name?"

"I don't know…" Gibbs said with realization. He pulled out his phone and dialed. "Jenny!" he said after a pause, "Did you catch the name of the victim?"

"You didn't?" Jenny's voice said fuzzily on the phone.

"What is it?!"

"Pansy Parkinson. She's from Slytherin. Third year. What do you know so far?"

"Why, you filling in SecNav or Dumbledore?"

"Both!" Jenny said. "Cause and time?"

"Cause, bled to death. Her wrists were slashed wide open. Time? Duck?"

Ducky looked at his watch, then the liver probe in his hand. "Between 2:45 and 3:00 AM. But I can't be too sure. We have to get her back."

"Damn," Jenny said under her breath. "We were still up…"

"Find out where the school's patrol was." Gibbs hung up.

Ziva came back soon after. "There was another message. It said, 'Sleeping Beauty sleeps in the tallest tower…' I got a sample and took photographs." Ziva showed Gibbs and then put the sample in her back pack.

Ducky and Jimmy put the young girl into a body bag after McGee finished getting all the pictures he needed. Blood dripped from her robes onto the tower floor. The bag was lifted onto a stretcher and the ME and his assistant left.

"I don't think there's much staging we can do without Ducky and Abby's findings," Tony began. "There's no way someone would let someone else slash their wrists unless they were drugged or incapacitated in some other way."

"Block off the tower entrance. Let's go," Gibbs said heavily. The team left in very low spirits.

* * *

Gibbs stormed into the Room of Requirement. His team came in right after him and went straight to their desks. McGee uploaded photos from the cameras and sent them to Abby's computer.

"What are you doing here?" Gibbs growled at another robed figure in the room. Snape had joined his coworker in observing the agents.

"I, Agent Gibbs," Snape said coldly, "am the Head of Slytherin, the House Miss Parkinson was in. I am the one who will be speaking to her parents, and I, not Professor McGonagall, am the one who needs answers right now."

"Need answers?" Gibbs snapped back. "Join the club! McGee! Put up the message on the plasma!" Gibbs beckoned the two professors into the bull pen. McGee had done as he was told. _"Unlike last year, no one is safe."_ The message written in blood blared on the screen, taunting everyone. "Do you know what this means?"

"Parkinson was a pureblood…" Snape said under his breath.

"Last year there was a series of attacks on students by a creature, a basilisk, left by one of the Hogwarts founders. But it only attacked those of 'impure blood,'" McGonagall explained.

"What is a pureblood?" Gibbs demanded.

"Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall have failed to fill you in on everything that might be relevant, I see," Snape hissed. "A pureblood is someone of complete magical back ground. Their parents were both a witch and wizard, as were their grand parents and great grand parents, so on and so forth. A Muggle-born, often referred to as a Mudblood by idiotic children, is a witch or wizard born to Muggle parents. I believe you've met Miss Granger. A half-blood is one who comes from mixed back ground."

"The alternate term for Muggle-borns is considered highly offensive and is not to be tolerated!" McGonagall reminded Snape forcibly.

"Pardon me for doing what you should have, Minerva, and telling them everything that might help!" Snape snarled.

Gibbs walked over to his desk and wrote something down on a piece of paper. "When are the Parkinsons going to get here?"

"They'll be here far sooner than the McDonalds," McGonagall informed.

"And they will not want to see you," Snape added. "As said, the Parkinsons are pureblood, and very proud of it. They will not like the idea of Muggles handling their daughter."

"They'll have to deal with it. Tony, I want to know when they get here!" Gibbs stalked off towards the stairs and began up them.

Abby popped out of her lab a moment later and looked around. "Where's Gibbs?"

"MTAC, I think…" Tony guessed.

"Um… ok." Abby shook her head slightly and held up a piece of paper. "Do you want to know what this says?"

"What does it say, Abby?" Tony humored her.

"I was running the blood from the message Ziva found. Pull it up, would you, McGee?" The other message popped up on the screen. _"Sleeping Beauty sleeps in the tallest tower." _Abby continued, "So I started the test, and then I started getting results really quickly, which, of course, confused me. DNA tests are supposed to take hours. The machine recognized the patterns. That message," Abby pointed at the screen, "was written in McDonald's blood, not Parkinson's."

"So… the killer saved some of McDonald's blood?" McGee suggested.

"Yeah, good guess, Probie! That is, unless, the killer is a ninja and snuck in here at night and got some more!" Tony said in tones that suggested his colleague needed to think before speaking.

McGonagall was beginning to think that the churning of her stomach would become permanent.

"What about the other one, the message in the tower?" Tony asked the scientist.

"I haven't gotten anything on it yet, and I can't run Parkinson's blood until Ducky gives me a sample, which he says is a little bit difficult. How much did she lose?"

"Uhh…" McGee glanced over at the professors standing in the middle of the bull pen.

Abby pushed McGee's chair out of the way of his computer. She took the images off the big screen and began flipping through them on the computer's. "Damn!" she whispered, "This is one sick, cruel son of a bitch."

"What if the first message was written to draw someone up to the tower?" Ziva suggested. "Put them both up," she requested. The two images popped up. "Ah, see? The drips on the first message are longer than the second. And the second messages writing is thicker. The killer had more ink for that one."

"Excuse me," McGonagall interrupted, "I think I might throw up!" She left quickly and headed up the stairs, retreating to the Director's office.

"How about you, Professor Snape?" Abby questioned. "Feeling a little green?"

"I have a stronger stomach than most of the staff," Snape said evenly. "Please, continue."

Tony shrugged and picked up where they'd left off, "But the killer wrote 'Sleeping Beauty,' Ziva. How would he know it would be a girl that found it?"

"Perhaps he lured her there, Tony!"

"He didn't really plan ahead with McDonald and Brown, why would he now?"

"Actually," McGee cut in, "he might have planned on McDonald, just maybe not Brown. Think about it, he managed to corner one big kid into a cleaning closet, out of common sight. That requires thinking ahead. All he needed was a way to keep Brown quiet."

"For all we know, McGee, McDonald led the killer to the closet. He tried to hide his girlfriend, yes?" Ziva argued. "Perhaps the killer was closer behind him than he thought."

"But," McGee began, "if he'd planned on rape, why not bring a drug of some sort?"

"How do you know he didn't, Agent McGee?" Snape added his own two cents.

"Well," Tony said to the professor, "the girl was covered head to toe in bruises. That doesn't usually happen if someone is unconscious."

"Perhaps she was beaten?" Snape suggested.

"No," Abby replied. "If she was beaten there'd be a lot more damage. Her bruises were from trying to get away."

Snape nodded and kept his mouth shut for now.

"I want to believe he planned for two," Ziva stated. "If he did not, it means he is even smarter and faster on his feet than we think."

Ducky came out of his morgue. "Before any of you ask, Miss Parkinson was fortunate enough to not suffer a horrible death as well as the fate of Miss Brown. However, she was in very much pain. Her left leg was fractured just below the knee."

"That takes a lot of force!" Abby objected. "Nothing else was found up in the tower, was there?"

"Nope," Tony responded.

"There isn't much of a bruise, she was killed soon after her leg was broken, but if I were you, I would go check that tower for loose rocks. Preferably before Gibbs returns from where ever he may be?"

"McGee, with me!" Tony commanded, throwing on his NCIS cap and grabbing his backpack.

McGee hastened to catch up with his colleague.

"I'm going to get back to work," Abby announced.

"Did you find anything else interesting, Ducky?" Ziva asked as she headed back towards her desk.

"No, I did not," Ducky admitted. "Only the bruise."

"What makes you think it was made by one of the stones?"

"The bruise is very oddly shaped, and deeper in some parts than others, suggesting a rough surface. I don't know what else it could be."

Gibbs came back downstairs and walked through the bull pen, headed for the lab. "When the Parkinsons get here, which should be rather soon according to Dumbledore, Professor Snape, I want to talk to them. I don't care how you get them up here, just get them here."

Snape left the room, presumably to meet the Parkinsons.

Ziva looked at the ME. Ducky only sighed, shook his head, and retreated to his morgue.

* * *

Next chapter - Nothing Helpful

You know, I really do love getting reviews and knowing what people thought of the chapter. Would you mind giving me your opinion? Reviews are such lovely things...


	15. Nothing Helpful

**Nothing Helpful**

Mr. and Mrs. Parkinson refused, point blank, to talk to Gibbs or any member of his team. Gibbs had been forced to give Professor Snape a list of questions to ask them, and then he and his team watched from behind the glass in interrogation. They gained no useful information. The Parkinsons almost seemed more upset over the fact that someone dare kill a pureblood in such a filthy Muggle manner than the fact that their daughter was dead. They even refused to see her. Snape got to the end of the list of questions and escorted the Parkinsons out of the room, out of the school.

Ducky started on the autopsy immediately after the Parkinsons left.

Snape came back to the Room of Requirement with the boy that had found the body. There was nothing abnormal in his story. He was a first year. He'd been on a dare from a few older students when he found the first message. The eleven year old had thought it to be part of his challenge, and followed it. He'd seen the blood and feet and then promptly run down to the Great Hall to tell his Head of House, Snape. Gibbs sent the student back to class.

Tony and McGee had found three possible stones from the tower that could have been used to break Miss Parkinson's leg. They gave them to Ducky, who eliminated two. The third one matched.

Abby matched the blood from the second message to Pansy Parkinson.

That was all the team had been able to do. They'd found the body shortly after breakfast, and now it was dinner time. There were no foreign finger prints, no foreign DNA, no shoe prints, nothing. All the team had were two bodies, a rape victim, three messages, two bullets, one too smashed to get anything useful, and a rock.

Professor McGonagall returned to the Room of Requirement to bring everyone down to dinner.

"We're not going to dinner," Gibbs said determinedly. He clicked his mouse a few times and then stood up. "Where's Professor Snape?"

"Down in the Great Hall," McGonagall said incredulously, "for dinner."

Gibbs threw open a drawer in his desk. "Tell him I want him down by his common room entrance in ten minutes." He clipped on his gun and badge. The rest of his team followed suit and they all left the room before McGonagall responded.

* * *

Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, and McGee were only waiting by the supposedly hidden door on the map for three minutes. Snape came around the corner, robes billowing out behind him. "I was told I was requested here?" he said smoothly.

"We need to search Miss Parkinson's room," Ziva explained.

"And therefore need to get into the common room. Very well." Snape whispered the password to the wall, the agents couldn't here it. He then led the way into the common room. The ceiling was low, the room was cold, and eerie green lights hung from the ceiling on chains. The chairs were a deep emerald green, looking just as comfortable as the ones in the Gryffindor common room, but not anywhere near as inviting.

"What are _they_ doing here, Professor?" asked an older student near the fireplace.

"What are you lot still doing in here?" Snape hissed. "Get down to the Great Hall!"

The few remaining students in the common room got up and left, many of them pointedly avoiding touching the agents in any way and giving them dirty looks.

"Parkinson's room, I believe, is the second on the left," Snape said. "But you three," he pointed at Gibbs, Tony, and McGee, "would be wise to stay in here."

Tony glared at the staircase leading to the girl's dorms. It wasn't anywhere near as tall as the Gryffindor one, it only led up to a hall, but it was tall enough that you could not make it up to the top without it turning to a slide.

Gibbs pulled out his phone and dialed. "Jen, Ziva needs help going through Parkinson's room."

"You're asking for my help again, Jethro! Losing your touch?"

"Just get down here!" Gibbs snapped.

"I'm com – " Gibbs hung up on the Director.

"Go get started, Ziva."

Ziva took off up the staircase and down the long hall with doors on the left and right.

Tony sat himself down on one of the chairs and exhaled. Wasn't this thrilling?

"Why is it," Gibbs started, "that your House seems less cooperative than the others?"

"Slytherin has long prided itself on its purity of blood. The students hate the idea of Muggles pushing their way into the magical world," Snape explained.

"Only the students?" Gibbs questioned.

"If you're asking if I am prejudiced, Agent Gibbs, the answer is no. I've learned my lesson, and I've seen that blood hardly makes a witch or wizard."

Ziva appeared at the top of the staircase. "Gibbs!" she called. Gibbs turned towards her and she threw down to him a small book. "I think that is her diary." Ziva returned to her search.

"Bag it," Gibbs ordered and threw the diary to Tony.

Gibbs' phone rang and he answered. "Gibbs. This better be important."

"It is, Jethro. How am I supposed to help Ziva when I can't get to the room I'm supposed to be helping with?" Jenny said over the phone.

As Jenny spoke, Gibbs walked over to the common room entrance and opened it. Jenny stepped through. "So where am I going?" Gibbs pointed and the Director headed off.

"Why don't you tell us about Miss Parkinson?" Gibbs asked Snape.

"Pansy Parkinson. Third year. Not a very smart girl, and purist to the core. She wasn't very well liked, even by her own House," Snape said without emotion.

"Who'd she hang around with?"

"Her fellow third year Slytherins. Mostly Millicent Bulstrode, Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle."

Ziva and Jenny came back down the staircase a short while later. "There was nothing other than the diary," Ziva informed. "There was nothing under her bed, the sheets, or in the pillow. Nothing in any of her books or in any of her drawers…"

"Sorry, Gibbs, nothing else to go on," Jenny said sympathetically.

Gibbs was not happy. He didn't say anything as he led the way out and back to the Room of Requirement. Snape went back to the Great Hall.

The team flustered around headquarters, everyone rushing to do as Gibbs told them. After being visited at least five times by each of the three agents under Gibbs' command, Ducky came out of his morgue. "Jethro! I am not going to be able to get anywhere with this," Ducky held up Pansy's diary, "if you keep sending in your team every thirty seconds to see if I have anything yet! I'm sure Abby's about ready to kill one of you."

Gibbs was about to tell Ducky that he was getting even less done snapping at him than he would begetting done in his morgue being disturbed every thirty seconds, but the door to the room opened. Professor McGonagall walked in and was cut off from speaking.

"Jethro!" said a familiar, though completely unexpected voice. The man threw his suitcase off to the side and walked into the bull pen. "Aren't you happy to see me?"

"Fornell! What the hell are you doing here?" Gibbs yelled.

Tony, Ziva, McGee, and Ducky all wandered out of the bull pen. Ducky continued on, retreating to his morgue. McGee ran into the lab and got Abby. The four full grown adults crouched behind the bull pen wall to listen to the show down that would surely take place.

"Nice to see you, too," Fornell said sarcastically. "Do you really want me to go through the whole calling tree?" Gibbs didn't respond. Fornell sighed and began, "Alright, Professor McGonagall watches you all and reports to Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore talks to your Director. Your Director calls SecNav. SecNav calls SecDef. SecDef calls the President. President calls English Prime Minister. English Prime Minister doesn't want to deal with it and hands case over to America. President calls SecDef back. SecDef decides that since the students of this school are now being treated as American citizens, FBI needs to get involved. So here I am! This is one hell of a case, eh?"

Gibbs glared up the stairs at the Director's door.

"And let's say, just for giggles," Fornell added, "that the Army caught wind of this case and wanted in, and that you needed more women for this case. And let's say, again for giggles, that the Army CID top team was already deep into another case so they asked an old friend to come back from Hawaii and represent them. Colonel!" Fornell finally called over his shoulder.

A woman with her blonde hair pulled into a French braid in the Army dress uniform of a dark green skirt and jacket walked into the room. "Hello, Jethro!" she greeted.

Four pairs of eyes popped over the bull pen divider.

"Uh oh…" Tony whispered.

* * *

Next chapter - Thin Patience

Oh dear... who could it be?

Anywho... I went to the midnight premier of the sixth Harry Potter movie. It was pretty good, actually. But at the same time, I got the impression that the writers were flipping through the book and decided, "Screw this. Let's arkspay otenay it (think pig-latin, you'll get it)! We can get the highlights and then just make up things to fill time between them! Sounds like a plan! What? No, it doesn't matter. We're going to make billions of dollars no matter how far off plot we are!"

...Not to mislead you, I loved it and am definately seeing it again. There were just some interesting turns that even a Potter obsessed person such as I did not forsee... o_0

I love reviews a lot! -hint hint-


	16. Thin Patience

**Thin Patience**

"Surprised to see me, I see," Lieutenant Colonel Hollis Mann said to Gibbs.

Gibbs leaned towards Fornell as Colonel Mann began her way towards them. "Give me one good reason to not shoot you," he growled.

"Oh!" Fornell mocked surprise and embarrassment, "Did you two have a fall out after your last case? I completely missed that bit of information!"

"Not helping your case, Tobias!"

"Our case, actually," Fornell pointed out.

"Gibbs, Fornell, and the Colonel. This is going to be hell," Tony whispered.

"Do not forget the Director," Ziva reminded.

"She and the Colonel didn't get along too well, did they?" McGee asked, his voice laced with worry.

"This is definitely not good!" Abby complained quietly.

"Holly," Gibbs reluctantly greeted the woman in front of his desk.

"Do you have a problem working with me, Agent Gibbs?" Colonel Mann challenged.

"Nope," Gibbs said shortly.

"You try to retire and they just suck you right back in. I'm sure you know how that goes."

"So where do we put our things?" Fornell seemed to rejoice in Gibbs' clear discomfort.

"Storage closet under the stairs," Gibbs answered.

"Sounds highly-organized," Colonel Mann commented. She and Fornell headed back to the door to get their bags.

"Agent Fornell!" Jenny's voice called from the top of the stairs, "I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow morning. And Colonel Mann… I wasn't expecting you at all!"

"That makes two of us, Director!" the Colonel replied. She slung her bags over her shoulder and headed off to throw them under the stairs. Jenny continued her way into MTAC, her eyes only peeling away from the bull pen at the last moment.

Professor McGonagall began to feel like she was missing a huge chunk of information. She had been under the impression that Agent Fornell and Colonel Mann weren't familiar with the NCIS team. But it was becoming clear that they all had some sort of intertwined history.

Fornell came back into the bull pen. "Gosh, I wish I had a desk!" A desk that didn't match any of the others popped up to the side. "Well what do you know?" Fornell sat down at the desk, immediately looking very comfortable. Gibbs recognized it as the desk that sat in Fornell's office at the FBI. "Magic is a wonderful thing, don't you think, Jethro?"

"Something you're not telling me, Tobias?"

Fornell leaned up in his chair. "Apparently, she kept more from you than me," he said smugly.

"Who?"

"Our ex-wife."

"Our?" McGonagall couldn't help but butt in. Ex spouses was one thing she knew about, though failed to understand. Marriage was supposed to be a life-long commitment. But saying "our ex wife" just brought things to a new level of confusing.

"Tobias is always taking up my left-overs, despite my warnings," Gibbs explained. "And what the hell do you mean?" He turned his attention back to the FBI agent.

"You're serious! She never told you! Well, I guess she wouldn't have told me, either, if Emily hadn't come along…" Fornell said as a side note.

"You're just messing with me, aren't you?" Gibbs growled.

"Oh, no! I'm completely serious! Our ex is a witch!"

"That explains a hell of a lot," Gibbs said moodily under his breath.

"Which wife is this?" Colonel Mann asked, coming back to the bull pen.

"Second," Gibbs answered without looking up.

"Is that second wife? Or second divorce?" the Colonel's voice seemed to be in a false calm. McGonagall's feeling of bewilderment increased.

"Oh… that was bitchy," Abby commented angrily, still behind the bull pen divider.

"Second divorce," Gibbs replied shortly. "Are you going to have a problem working with me, Colonel Mann?"

"No," the Colonel responded. "Have an extra desk lying around?"

"We're in the Room of Requirement in a magical school – "

"I know we're in Hogwarts, Jethro. My cousin went here," the Colonel cut Gibbs off. "Room of Requirement, you say?" Another desk popped up across Fornell's. Again, it didn't match any of the others. Colonel Mann sat down at it and leaned back in her chair.

"But you're a Muggle!" McGonagall interrupted the moment again. "If you had a magical cousin, why did they tell you?"

"Because my cousin and his mother lived with me and my parents for a few years after his father disappeared. He was kind of a handful sometimes…" the Colonel left her sentence hanging.

Gibbs sighed heavily. Of course, he was the one that hadn't had any idea about magic, even though he'd apparently been married to a witch. Surprise, surprise.

"DiNozzo! David! McGee! Abby!" Gibbs barked, "Do you want to get back to work or keep playing hide-and-seek?"

The four hiding adults looked at each other before standing up and going to their respective work places.

"Have you eaten yet? Or are you starving your team again?" Fornell asked from his desk. He took Gibbs' silence as an answer. "Agent DiNozzo, Officer David, Agent McGee, why don't you hop on down to the kitchen and grab some food while your boss fills us in?"

Tony, Ziva, and McGee all looked at Gibbs. He nodded, and they left.

"So what are we dealing with this time?" asked the Colonel.

"I think you want to leave, Professor McGonagall," Gibbs stated. "I've been told you don't have the strongest stomach in the world."

"I'm fine!" McGonagall said defiantly. She could have cursed herself. She knew she'd regret staying.

"Alright, then." Gibbs stood up and walked over to McGee's desk. He picked up a remote off of it and hit a button. Pictures began popping up. "First victim, Gavin McDonald. Fourteen. Gryffindor. His father is a commander in the Navy, his mother's a lawyer. Half-blood… do you know what that is?"

"Mmmhmm. One parent's magic, the other isn't," the Colonel said.

"You didn't ask us about Gryffindor… but we know what that is, too," Fornell said irritatingly.

Gibbs continued, "He went down protecting this girl." A photo of a bruised teenage girl showed up on the screen. "His girlfriend, Lavender Brown. Thirteen, also a Gryffindor. She was raped, no DNA. She's a pureblood. I'll just assume you know what that is, too. This is the message that came with them." _"There will be more…" _"And then there was more. Third Victim, Pansy Parkinson." A girl lying in a pool of her own blood came onto the screen. "Thirteen, Slytherin, pureblood. She was found this morning, and the reason that you two got to come over and play."

"Good God!" Fornell said, looking at the picture. "That's one hell of a cut!"

Gibbs went to the next picture, a close up of Pansy's arm. "Straight down to the bone."

"Did she come with any messages from our friendly serial killer?" Colonel Mann asked.

"Two. Officer David thinks this one was used to lure her up to the tower she was found on." _"Sleeping Beauty sleeps in the tallest tower..."_ "It was written in McDonald's blood. Then this second one was found on the way up the stairs to the tower, written in her blood." _"Unlike last year, no one is safe…"_

"What happened last year?"

"Some creature was set loose and it attacked those students that didn't have pureblood."

"And Parkinson was a pureblood, you said. Have any Muggle-borns been killed yet?"

"Well, gosh, Holly. One would think you grew up a witch, yourself," Gibbs said sarcastically.

"My cousin and I talked a lot. His friend's wife was a Muggle-born. Answer my question," the Colonel demanded.

"No. No Muggle-borns yet."

"Then one of them is probably up next," the Colonel reasoned, "And I wouldn't count on having a gun or knife to match wounds with. And I wouldn't expect them to be a Slytherin or Gryffindor. Whoever this is likes variety."

McGonagall was barely keeping her dinner down. But she was being her stubborn self and refused to give Gibbs the satisfaction of leaving. She was going to tough it out… maybe.

"We should stop classes. These kids don't have files, we need them," Fornell told Gibbs.

"Classes can't be stopped!" McGonagall managed to open her mouth without letting out anything other than sound. She was a little proud of herself.

"Classes or a student's heart. Take your pick, Professor," the Colonel said, looking the teacher straight in the eye.

"If we stop classes cold, the killer might panic. Everyone has to think the day is a usual one. Professor McGonagall," Gibbs started his order, "get the staff together. We're putting that plan we discussed last night into action day after tomorrow. Not a week from now."

"That's not enough time to get everything in order!"

"Damn it, McGonagall!" Gibbs snapped. Completely. He threw the remote back onto McGee's desk and stomped over to the professor. "You've been fighting us every step of the way! I am trying to do my job and save your students' lives! Stop making this difficult! I don't care if every single one of you has to stay up all night to get everything organized! Get it done!"

"Special Agent Gibbs!" the Director shouted from somewhere up the stairs.

Gibbs didn't answer. His face was red and blotchy from anger. His eyes were wide and his pupils small and he was right in the professor's face. He and McGonagall glared at each other for a moment before she finally stalked out of the room.

* * *

Next chapter - The Plan

Sorry for the long-ish wait. Family crisis. And you all know how much fun those are! But I'm back now, so I hall return to regulat updates...

Well... maybe I will. I have to pound a bunch of information into my head before the week is out. rawr. I need to get back to memorizing stuff now. But I would looooooovveeee to know what you thought about the chapter! Review!


	17. The Plan

**The Plan**

Minerva McGonagall was not happy in the least, and it clearly showed. None of the teachers dare put up any sort of fight when she called them all to the staffroom.

"Now what's this about, Minerva?" Pomona Sprout asked as she seated herself on one of the various chairs throughout the now crowded room.

"NCIS will be able to explain much better than me," McGonagall tried not to snap. "They should be here soon."

As if on cue, the staffroom door opened. Gibbs, Jenny, Tony, Ziva, McGee, Abby, Ducky, Jimmy, Fornell and the Colonel walked in, though she'd traded her skirt and jacket for a camouflage uniform.

"Good evening, Professors," Jenny greeted. A few of the robed adults said hello back or waved, but for the most part, remained unmoved. "I apologize for the short notice, I'm sure you all have things to do. However, considering this morning's events, we have to move faster than we planned."

"Do you have any idea who is doing this?" Jenny followed the droning voice's sound and rested her eyes on Professor Snape.

"Not yet," Gibbs confessed, taking over. "But information we'll get tomorrow might help."

"Tomorrow?" McGonagall raged, "You told me day _after _tomorrow!"

"Day after tomorrow is Saturday. You don't have classes then, do you?" Gibbs retorted. He turned towards Tony.

"This weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend, isn't it?" a short man, Flitwick, asked.

"Hogsmeade?" Gibbs turned his attention back to the staff.

"The small town just a short walk away from here, Agent Gibbs," Flitwick explained, "Every once and a while we allow students third year and above to go there for a day."

"Cancel it," Gibbs demanded and turned away again.

"If I may, Agent Gibbs," a man in the back of the room interrupted loudly over his colleagues. He looked much older than he likely was and wore robes with several patches. "I understand that you're used to working with military personnel. You can call them back from or cancel their leave if need be and it will happen. Hogwarts is a school full of teenagers. We can't cancel something that has been planned for months with two days notice." The man looked briefly at Colonel Mann and then returned his attention to Gibbs to gage his reaction.

Gibbs muttered something foreign sounding under his breath. Jenny looked at him disapprovingly.

"We can work with that later. The main issue here is tomorrow." Gibbs looked over at Tony and McGee. "Map," he said simply.

The two younger men moved out into the hall and came back in carrying a large white board. The board had a basic map of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on it. Each room was labeled with its purpose. Transfiguration classroom, potions classroom, Dumbledore's office, cleaning closet…

Ziva pulled a marker out of her pocket. "Who has a class first hour tomorrow? Call out the subject, please." The names of odd subjects rang through the room. The Israeli hurried to mark each classroom off.

Tony flipped the board over, revealing all the teachers' names and the subject they taught, as well as any other positions they might hold. Ziva began marking the names off as well. Once she finished, Tony flipped the board back over to the map.

"Tomorrow is going to start out just like any other day," Gibbs informed, "Except for the fact that once the students are in their first class, they will not be leaving it until we say.

"To help speed our process we are going to need every single student's photo, fingerprints, DNA, as well as a few other bits of information. They'll be kept in their first hour class until every class has been visited."

"You're interviewing every single student? That'll take all day!" one of the teachers protested.

Gibbs exhaled heavily. Jenny decided it'd be best if she spoke for a while. "It might. But if we don't get this information there'll be more and more killings."

"There already will be more," Snape hissed. "You've admitted you have no idea or clues as to who is doing this! What will halting an entire day of classes to get some trivial bits of information give you?"

"Hey!" Abby jumped to defend her sciences, "These aren't 'trivial' bits of information! They could be huge! Sooner or later… hopefully sooner, the killer is going to slip up. He'll leave some trace of himself at a crime scene and we'll be able to figure out who it is quickly if we get this stuff now!"

"Abby," Gibbs said quietly. Abby looked over at his face and immediately sat down. She looked across the staffroom and realized she'd crossed a line. She had just implied that there would be more crime scenes, meaning more dead students. They had brushed what Snape said off, he was nearly always pessimistic. But Abby was the scientist on the case and knew more than they did.

"We'll also need to get all these things from every one of you," Jenny informed. She looked a little more tense than before, expecting an outrage.

It came from a hawk like looking woman. Jenny thought she might be Madam Hooch… or maybe Pomfrey… She'd never get all the names right! "What do you need these things from us for?" the woman sounded confused, though her confusion was the kind that had a bit of anger with it.

"What makes you think that any of you are not potential targets or above suspicion?" Ziva asked. The teachers all exchanged looks. Gibbs looked towards the ceiling. Of course. The staff hadn't ever been among targets previously, and they ran the school. They'd felt, up until now, that they were automatically off the victim and suspect lists. No one would dare mess with their teacher…

"Whoever the killer is doesn't care who they kill. They just want to kill and prove their point," Colonel Mann spoke up.

"Point?" Snape queried.

Gibbs had the urge to hit the wall. Wake up, Hogwarts staff! You have to pay a bit more attention to this kind of stuff!

"Yes, point," Ducky began his explanation, "The mind of a murderer can take so many different forms. It depends on their motive. It can be thrill, rage, vengeance, anything. This person's motive is to prove a point. We've been informed that several people here at this school see us 'Muggles' as unintelligent, helpless, and disgusting. Whoever is doing the killing obviously doesn't believe this, and they want everyone to know it."

"Cutting through all that fluff you've been indulged with," Fornell cut in, "Just stick with the plan. Get to your first class, take attendance, and then keep all the kids there so we can get fingerprints, DNA, and anything else relevant."

"What's this DNA you keep talking about?" Professor Sprout asked.

Abby didn't even bother asking if she could explain. "DNA is short for Deoxyribonucleic acid. It's the stuff in your cells that codes for every single trait you have! It's way smaller than you can see - well, duh, it's in a cell, which you can't see - but with some tests I can decode it. Every person on the planet has different DNA… well… except identical twins, but – "

"Abby!"

"Sorry, Gibbs." Abby lowered herself back into the chair she'd found earlier.

"The ten of us will start in the dungeons and work our way up, stopping at each classroom that has students. Once we're done, we'll let you know and the day can go on as usual," Gibbs finally finished.

"Just to be sure, since there was plenty of side conversation in there, tomorrow the students will start by going to breakfast, and then their first class, where they'll stay. You all will come by and get whatever you need from them, and then we'll be back to normal," a woman said irritably. Ah ha! _That_ was Madam Pomfrey. The one from earlier was, in fact, Madam Hooch. Jenny resisted the urge to smile. She was catching on.

"Basically," Gibbs replied with a shrug.

"What about the students that aren't in class?" the man at the back of the room spoke up again. Jenny couldn't remember his name to save her life.

"Agent McGee, Colonel Mann and I will go through the halls and find the kids skipping," Tony informed.

"That's fantastic," the man said, "but not what I meant. Some of the sixth and seventh years don't have classes certain periods. They're free to go wherever."

"They'll be in their common rooms," Gibbs decided. He looked at Jenny. She picked up on the hint and left, presumably to talk to Dumbledore.

"Then you'll need someone to keep an eye on them and make sure they don't leave. Otherwise we'll lose track of them."

Tony flipped the board over to reveal the list of teachers' names. "Staff members off duty during first period: Burbage, Lupin, Pince, Pomfrey, Sinistra, Trelawney, Hooch."

"Seven teachers, four houses," Ziva stated.

"Professor Burbage, can you keep an eye on the Hufflepuffs?" the Colonel asked, taking charge.

"Sure thing!" a feminine voice answered.

"Professor Lupin, Gryffindor?" As opposed to the last name, Colonel Mann didn't turn around to look at who responded. Gibbs looked at the woman suspiciously.

"Of course!" the man at the back of the room called.

"Professor Pince – "

"Madam Pince!" a woman snapped. "And I work in the library. I have thousands of things to do. I have no time to watch students all day!"

"Calm down, Irma! Merlin's beard!" one of the staff members said exasperatedly.

Ziva quickly crossed the librarian's name off the list.

"Alright, then. Madam Pomfrey – "

"I can't, either. I'm up in the hospital wing. I have to be there."

"I assumed so," the Colonel reasoned. "Professor Sinistra, Ravenclaw?"

"I guess," a woman sighed, clearly not looking forward to the next day.

"Professor Tre – "

The Colonel saw Professor McGonagall's eyes widen and the woman began shaking her head slightly. "No!" she mouthed.

"On second thought, Professor Hooch, Slytherin?"

"Madam Hooch will watch the Slytherin brats, yes," the flight instructor said heavily.

Snape looked agitated for a moment, but quickly covered it up.

"Fantastic! Situation under control!" the Colonel said happily.

"DiNozzo, David, McGee, prints. Ducky, Abby, Palmer, DNA. Fornell, Colonel, with me," Gibbs told his team. He looked at the staff. "First visit one of those three," he pointed at those assigned to prints and photos, "then to one of them," he pointed at the three scientists, "and then to one of us," he gestured to himself and the other two left.

The group of nine split. Tony grabbed his back pack and handed several cards and a pad of ink to Ziva and McGee, who also had a camera slung around his neck. Abby snatched Ziva's bag and handed several tubes to the ME and his assistant. Gibbs led the way over to an unpopulated area of the room.

"You know what to ask," Gibbs said to Fornell and the Colonel.

"We do, but we've got a minute or two before anyone comes over here," the Colonel stated.

"Well in that case, let's play a quick round of truth or dare!" Fornell said sarcastically.

"Funny, Tobias," the Colonel quipped.

None of the staff moved. Finally, the man in the back who'd answered to 'Lupin' got up and was the first to get his prints taken. Things just rolled on from there.

Colonel Mann had gotten through four interviews. She only had one more, and then, with luck, she'd be allowed to go to sleep!

Last interview, Minerva McGonagall.

"Professor," the Colonel greeted and invited her to sit in the chair across her. The emotion the woman was giving off made the Colonel want to leave or become invisible. "To start, full name?"

"Minerva Marie McGonagall."

"How long have you been teaching here?"

"37 years come December," McGonagall said shortly. Definitely not a happy camper.

"And you were a Gryffindor, yes?"

"Considering I'm Head of Gryffindor, very good guess."

"Blood status?" the Colonel asked after a brief moment of shock. She'd known McGonagall was irascible, but had thought she'd be a bit more cooperative.

"Pure. And to answer your next question, I don't know anything more about what's going on than you."

"I haven't done anything to piss you off, Professor, so quit snapping at me, if you please!" Colonel Mann said without looking up from her clipboard.

McGonagall was slightly taken aback at the outburst. But giving up completely just wouldn't be any fun. "How do you know Agent Gibbs?"

"I've worked cases with him before. And I'm asking the questions, Professor!" the Colonel finished writing her note and looked up. "Birth date?"

"October fourth, 1925. What did you mean earlier when you asked second wife or divorce?"

"Do any names come to mind when you think about these crimes?"

"No. How many divorces?"

"Professor McGonagall," the Colonel said a little irritably, "if you needed to know these kinds of things, you would! Goodness gracious!" the woman took a deep breath before speaking again. "That's all the questions we have for now. Thanks for _cooperating_. I hope you continue to improve with it." Colonel Mann got up from her seat and joined the group of agents and scientists at the front of the room, all who were already finished with their jobs.

Tony had several spots of ink near the collar of his white shirt and light jacket. "What happened to you, DiNozzo?"

"Professor Trelawney happened to me," Tony answered sourly. "That woman is just a touch over the edge of crazy! This was a new jacket! Cost a lot of money! Now it's ruined!"

The Colonel looked at Ziva for further explanation.

"Professor Trelawney was talking to Tony while he was getting her prints. After he had finished she grabbed his shirt. He apparently was not paying close enough attention." Ziva smiled teasingly at her coworker.

"You, Ziva David, might believe that people can tell the future or sense things going on, but I don't. …Unless the person saying these things is Gibbs, and that's only because he's usually right."

Gibbs came up from behind Tony and slapped him over the head. "Pack up, DiNozzo."

"On it, Boss!" Tony began shoving things back into his bag after recovering from the slap.

"Thanks for your cooperation. You'll see us sometime tomorrow," Gibbs told the staff. He then led the NCIS team and its attachments out of the room.

* * *

Next chapter - Digging

I admit... this is not my proudest chapter. Be a nice person and review anyway! :)


	18. Digging

**Digging**

"They're all infuriating!" McGonagall said a few minutes after the team and several staff members had left.

Remus Lupin chuckled. "What'd Lieutenant Colonel Mann do to earn the wrath of Professor McGonagall?"

"She was just being plain _rude!_"

Remus laughed again. "Holly's actually a very sweet person off the job."

"Well you seem to know her fairly well, Lupin," Snape said with a raised eyebrow.

"She's my cousin, Severus!"

"You're the one she was talking about earlier, then!" McGonagall exclaimed.

"Most likely. My mother and I stayed with her family for a few years while her father was stationed in the UK," Remus replied, a little surprised.

"Do you still talk a lot?"

"Not recently," Remus admitted. "She claimed to have retired several months ago, and what with me actually having a job and all now…"

"Does she talk about work at all?" McGonagall asked.

"You're digging, Professor!" Remus scolded jokingly. "You want to know about the NCIS team, don't you?" McGonagall's silence was her answer. "Very well. I know that Holly's worked several cases with them. In fact, one of the last cases she worked before 'retiring' was with them. It involved one of Gibbs' ex wives, actually. Highly amusing, apparently."

"_One_ of his ex wives?" Snape couldn't help it. He was curious. Damn those Muggles.

"He's had three exes, apparently," Remus answered with distaste evident in his voice.

"Earlier, when the Colonel arrived, a conversation between some of the agents brought the question 'second wife or second divorce?' from her. Do you know what that means?" McGonagall queried.

Remus' face fell and he looked more than a little uncomfortable. "All I know is that Agent Gibbs had had four wives and three divorces and is currently unmarried. Even if Holly had told me the whole story, I wouldn't share it. I don't know anything more than that."

"How horrible," Snape said without emotion.

"And do you know why the Director doesn't seem to like her very much?" McGonagall questioned, though she was glaring at Snape for his heartlessness.

Remus smiled. "That's apparently between her, the Director, and Gibbs. I'm not going into it."

McGonagall raised her eyebrows. "What are you not saying?"

"That's just it. I'm not saying."

"Merlin's beard," Snape said. "It's one of those 'love triangles' isn't it?"

"Not exactly…" Remus said smally. Damn Snape. Leave it to him to get into someone's head like that.

"There's quite a bit more to these people than they let on, apparently," Snape said with an odd sort of smile. "But enough of putting you in an awkward position, though I won't deny it's highly amusing. Tell us what else you know."

Remus cursed himself. He would back himself into a corner like this, wouldn't he? He'd said too much and now he had no way out of telling even more, lest he suffer weeks upon weeks of cold shoulder treatment. "I know that the NCIS team has a very family sort of feel to it. Gibbs as the father figure, then Agents DiNozzo and McGee, Officer David, and Miss Sciuto as the children. Holly described the Director as being the mother that's _always_ at work. Then Dr. Mallard as an uncle sort, and Mr. Palmer as a kind of cousin."

"Interesting," Snape admitted. "And what would that make Colonel Mann in the family?" He gave one of his most fantastic smirks.

"I don't understand why they all seem to like Agent Gibbs so much," McGonagall said, ignoring Snape.

Remus smiled once again, perfectly content to ignore Snape. "You might not. Holly says that he does come off as rather harsh and uncaring. But underneath that exterior he's a very good man. Extremely loyal, very protective, and very determined."

"Dumbledore should have assigned you to be their babysitters."

"Ha! No, he shouldn't have. You're far better at these sort of things than I am. I'd be a pushover."

"It doesn't matter if you're a pushover or not, they run right over you!" McGonagall said sourly.

"They're doing what they came here to do. They aren't here to abide by our rules and step lightly. They're here to stop what's going on, and that'll take a few punches," Remus explained.

"I know they're doing their jobs. I just don't think they need to be so heartless about it!"

"If they got attached to every victim and case they'd ever been assigned they'd be complete and total wrecks. Besides that, distancing themselves is how they look at things objectively, which is something very important in their line of work."

The staffroom door opened unexpectedly. The camouflaged clad Colonel walked in and grabbed a bag left behind.

"Were you planning on saying hello, Colonel?" Remus asked the woman with a raised eyebrow.

"Hi, Remus," the Colonel humored him. "I know what you're thinking, and I'll explain later."

"How long does it take to grab a bag, Colonel? Let's go!" the voice of Gibbs said impatiently from the hallway.

"Jethro," the Colonel growled under her breath. She waved at the remaining staff members and headed towards the door. "You, of all people, know women don't like to be rushed, Agent Gibbs!" she snapped as she closed the door.

"Ah… he did something to upset her and she has yet to forgive him. What a tragic ending," Snape said with dark humor.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Severus?" Remus asked.

"Quite!"

"Heaven's sake, do I _look_ like a walking Hogwarts map, Jethro?" the voice of the Colonel shouted outside the doors.

"I don't know, my hearing's going. Could you ask any _louder_?" Gibbs snapped back.

"They're going to kill each other!" McGonagall said exasperatedly. She sunk into her chair, hoping to maybe melt into it. Her job was rolling downhill fast.

"You told DiNozzo you had a map!"

"I thought I did! And you're the one that left your damn bag down here!"

"Slipping, Jethro! Memory going with your eyesight?"

"If you're going to have a problem working with me, _Holly_, you should have said so earlier!" Gibbs' voice started getting fainter.

"Going to try to find your way back, are you? Marine in you just has to prove himself once again," the Colonel's voice was still loud and clear, she was just outside the staffroom.

Gibbs' response was barely audible. "Go ahead and pull over, ask for directions!"

The sound of heavy boots started moving away from the door.

"They sound so mature," Snape said sarcastically.

"I'm sure things will get better…" Remus said uncertainly.

"Whoever called her in is going to suffer a very slow and painful death," McGonagall snarled.

"There's one bright side for you." Remus allowed a smile to spread across his face. McGonagall raised an eyebrow at him. "Gibbs is going to be taking his frustration out on Holly rather than you."

* * *

Next chapter - Failed Hide-and-Seek

Tada! I am very much wanting to know what you think! Be an author's hero, review! :)


	19. Failed Hide and Seek

**Failed Hide-and-Seek**

Tony crept down to the kitchen, once again, at five in the morning. He'd thrown sweats on over his boxers, now aware of the fact that there was always someone up and about in Hogwarts. Tony turned the last corner and was met with a painting of a bowl of fruit. Once again, he ran his hand over it. A handle appeared, and he grabbed it quickly.

Fortunately, there was no one in the kitchen this time. Tony opened one of the cabinets. The smell of coffee hit him full force and he was tempted to just shove some of the beans down his throat. The agent grabbed one of the bags of coffee and made his way over to the sink to fill up the container he'd brought with water. The Room of Requirement had been so kind as to provide him with a coffeemaker. With luck, he wouldn't have to wake up at such a ridiculous hour again.

Tony started his way back to the room that had a bed in it, just for him, to return to sleep. He made it to the Entrance Hall, and suddenly found that his feet couldn't move. The double doors were covered with red writing, though the ink hadn't dried and was still dripping down the wood.

Agent DiNozzo dropped the coffee beans and water and pulled his gun out of its holster. His keen eyes ran over the entire hall. Whoever had left the message had to be somewhere close. The writing hadn't been there when Tony had gone down to the kitchen. The man ran up the stairs and back to headquarters.

"Gibbs!" he shouted once through the door. "Gibbs!"

Gibbs came out of the door leading to his room and looked very unhappy, "This had better – "

"He got someone else!"

Gibbs was awake now. He didn't need further explanation. "Get everyone else up." He went back into his room to grab his things.

Tony ran down the hall of bedrooms and banged on every door. "Victim four! Victim four!" he shouted the entire way. Commotion could soon be heard behind every door, and people began coming out of their rooms, still in their pajamas.

"I'll go tell SecNav and he'll get the message going," Jenny informed. The empty rooms now began morphing back into the bullpen, lab, morgue, and Director's office. Jenny took off up the stairs.

"Go tell Dumbledore once you're done with that!" Gibbs demanded. "Tony, lead the way, let's go!"

Tony slung his backpack over his shoulder and took off running. The other agents easily matched his pace. "I was getting coffee. There was nothing there on my way down, but on my way back up, I saw this."

The group stopped in the entrance hall and looked at the doors. _"Always swim with a trustworthy partner."_

"The lake," Gibbs said quietly.

"The writing's fresh. Whoever did it might still be out," the Colonel suggested.

"Ziva, go with Fornell. Tony, with the Colonel. McGee, with me," Gibbs commanded. The agents all pulled out their weapons and stalked off silently with their partner.

Gibbs pulled out his phone and dialed.

"Gibbs!" Abby shrieked. "What's going on?!"

"Abby! Shush!" Gibbs said in a harsh whisper. "Tell the Director to forget SecNav. Tell her to go straight to Dumbledore and get him to get the Heads of House to wake up their students and get a head count. And do it now." He hung up and continued slinking around.

Gibbs held up a hand, telling McGee to halt. The younger agent did as he was told and could hear quiet footsteps. McGee stepped to the opposite side of the hallway of Gibbs and they both took steps forward in unison.

Gibbs jumped around the corner with his weapon raised, ready to strike. McGee stepped out behind him.

"Merlin's beard! What are you doing?" Professor McGonagall demanded of them.

Gibbs threw his head back in anger and disappointment. "Go wake your students and get a head count, _now_!" he growled. He and McGee walked around her and continued on, ignoring her questions.

"Boss, look!" McGee whispered. He pointed at the wall. Gibbs realized they were at the first crime scene's writing. _"There will be more…" _A fresh, new message sat under it. _"I keep my word."_

"He knows we're out here," Gibbs said slowly. His phone began to vibrate. He spared a quick glance at the caller I.D. Ziva. He flipped it open. "Yeah?"

"Agent Fornell and I just passed the Sleeping Beauty message, and – "

Gibbs cut Ziva off. "Yeah, what's under it now?"

"'Are you having fun yet?'"

"That son of a bitch knows we're out looking for him," Gibbs snarled, "He's still out here somewhere. Keep looking."

He hung up. "McGee, call DiNozzo, tell him what's going on."

McGee flipped his phone open. "Boss, I think Tony dropped his phone…" The junior agent held his phone out to his superior. Gibbs read the text message pulled up on the screen. _"You really have no clue who I am, do you? (:" _

"Call Abby. Get a trace on that phone!" Gibbs snapped. "Damn it!" he said to himself out of pure frustration. He opened his own phone and dialed what he hoped to be the right number.

"_Holly, here. Can't pick up the phone. Try back later!"_

Gibbs cursed at the answering machine. Colonel Mann had failed to grab her phone in her rush to get out of her room. He now had no idea where a third of the search party was.

"Abby said Tony's phone is down in the Great Hall and that all the Heads of House are checking their students now," McGee informed.

Gibbs holstered his gun. "He's gone. We missed him. _Damn!_"

McGee opened his phone once more. "Ziva? We missed it."

Ziva said something in a foreign language that did not sound good.

"Tony dropped his phone and the Colonel doesn't have hers. We don't know where they are."

"We will keep looking for them." Ziva hung up.

Gibbs threw open the Great Hall doors. Tony's phone sat in the middle of the staff table. The lead agent held out his hand. McGee handed his superior a pair of gloves and an evidence bag from his back pack. Gibbs threw the phone into the bag and stuffed it into McGee's back pack.

Gibbs led McGee back into the Entrance Hall and was surprised to see Tony and Colonel Mann. McGee quickly flipped open his phone and called Ziva.

"Upstairs," Gibbs commanded, fury in his voice. Tony hurried to obey, McGee right behind him.

Gibbs began heading off as well, the Colonel not far behind. Ziva and Fornell ran up behind both of them and the group proceeded without speaking. The anger radiating off Gibbs screamed louder than any of them could anyway.

Special Agent Gibbs threw open the door to the Room of Requirement and stomped in. "DiNozzo!" he shouted, turning red in the face, "What is rule number three?"

"Never be unreachable, Boss!" Tony immediately replied.

"Then what the hell are you doing without your phone?!"

"I've got it right here, Boss!" Tony reached towards his cell holder… and found it empty. "Wait a second…"

"You dropped it! And the killer, whoever the hell he is, found it!"

McGee was legitimately frightened. He hadn't seen Gibbs so upset since they hadn't been able to identify Ari.

"No, Boss! There's no way I could have dropped my phone! Look at this!" Tony pulled his cell carrier off his waistband and held it up. "No way it fell out the bottom, and then there's this strap here to make sure it doesn't fall out the top!"

"Then the killer was right behind you and neither of you noticed!" Ziva stated, looking between Tony and the Colonel.

Gibbs turned towards the blonde woman. "And you! You, Colonel, left your phone in your room!"

"Jethro! Calm down a bi – "

"_I had no idea where either of you were!_" Gibbs yelled. He opened his mouth to scream more, but traded that for punching the wall, leaving a sizeable hole. "Grab your gear!" he demanded.

There was a flurry of movement as Tony, Ziva, and McGee ran to their desks.

Gibbs wheeled around, prepared to head back out the door, and was met with the sight of four Hogwarts professors looking at him, horrified. "Was anyone missing?" he tried to keep from shouting at them, but was rather unsuccessful.

"All Hufflepuffs accounted for," a plump woman said.

"No one missing from Gryffindor," McGonagall replied.

"All of Slytherin was where they should have been," Snape hissed, displeased with the way Gibbs was handling himself.

Gibbs turned his unwarranted glare towards the last teacher, a very short man, Head of Ravenclaw. "The only person from Ravenclaw unaccounted for was Roger Davies," he said quietly.

"Ziva!"

"Roger Davies, got it!" the Israeli woman said, joining her boss, Fornell, and Colonel Mann by the door. Tony and McGee made their way to the door, NCIS jackets and hats thrown over their pajamas. Tony handed Gibbs his own gear, which the older man threw on.

"Wait!" Abby ran out of her lab in an oversized t-shirt and rather short shorts. "What happened?! Where are you going now?!"

Gibbs handed Abby Tony's bagged phone. "Find me a print!" He headed out the door without saying anything else.

Ducky came out of his morgue, fully dressed, closely followed by Jimmy. "Abby? What just happened?"

Abby pointed at the hole in the wall. "Gibbs happened."

Ducky heaved a deep sigh. "Come along, Mr. Palmer. I'm sure Agent Gibbs doesn't feel like waiting for us at all."

Jimmy pulled his gaze away from the hole in the wall. "I guess," he said, "…I wouldn't want that to be my face!"

Ducky smiled. "No, you would not." He led the way out of the room.

Abby was left alone in the bull pen. She disregarded the presence of the teachers and began pacing in tight circles, biting her nails.

"Would you care to tell us why we've been made to get up at such a ridiculous hour?" one of the professors, the Head of Hufflepuff, asked Abby.

Abby didn't seem to hear. She continued her circles, until she finally broke them and grabbed the remote off McGee's desk for the plasma.

"Miss Sciuto!" Professor Sprout said loudly. Abby finally looked over. "What's going on?"

Abby briefly pursed her un-made-up lips. "The only thing I can say with certainty is that it is _not_ good!" she answered. "Prints!" she suddenly said. She ran to her lab, and then came back a moment later wearing gloves and carrying an odd brush. She pulled Tony's cell phone out of the evidence bag and began running the brush over it. "Damn! Wiped clean!" She threw the phone back in the bag.

"What do you mean 'not good'?" Snape asked.

"Just that! It's not good! I really don't know anything. Well… that's a lie, I guess. All I know is that Tony woke us all up by banging on our doors and screaming 'victim four!'" The filter Abby would usually have between her mind and mouth was gone. It was early, she was without caffeine, and she was worried.

Before the teachers started throwing masses of questions at the scientist, Jenny walked into the room on her phone. She looked quite unlike her usual self. Her face lacked make-up, her normally spiked hair laid flat, and she wore a tank top, too long pants, and had thrown a robe over herself.

"He got DiNozzo's cell?" She continued walking into the bull pen. "…Well they're all up, so you'd better hurry up, or you'll have unwelcomed company. …No, I have not talked to SecNav yet. It's midnight where he is. …Of course I'm going to keep trying! …You do your job, don't worry about mine!" Jenny flipped her phone shut.

"Well?" Abby asked, suddenly right in front of the Director.

Jenny walked past Abby and towards the teachers that were still in the room, impatiently awaiting news. "Victim four, Roger Davies, drowned, not long ago."

Professor Flitwick exhaled unsteadily. Now his house had been hit. "How could that have happened?" he said more to himself than anyone else. "Roger was a tough boy, he would have been able to pull his weight and defend himself…"

"We don't know yet, Professor," Jenny said sadly, "But his parents need to be notified."

"Of course," Flitwick said distantly. He left the room in a daze, hopefully to contact Mr. and Mrs. Davies.

"You all can go back to wherever," Jenny dismissed the remaining teachers. She turned back to the bullpen. "Any prints off Tony's cell?"

"Not even Tony's prints are on Tony's cell!" Abby whined. "Our killer wiped it down. There's nothing!"

"Did you check the antenna? After all, he was in a rush…"

"Of course I checked the antenna! There's _nothing_!" Abby snapped.

"What about DiNozzo's cell holder?" Jenny suggested.

A smile spread on Abby's face. "There's an idea. But Tony's cell holder is with its owner. So I have to wait."

"Call Gibbs. Tony will be here with it in less than two minutes," Jenny said with a smile. "Once you're done with that, be sure to change into more suitable attire?"

"You're one to talk!" Abby joked back. She was absolutely giddy. They might actually have a lead! Abby's face suddenly fell into a frown. If she found a lead, she'd better be getting a whole gallon of Caf-Pow when they got back to base.

* * *

Next chapter - Crime Scene Three

Know what song I just got stuck in my head? "There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza! There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza a hole!" ...did I spell Liza right? I dunno. If you don't know that song, be grateful. It's very long and annoying. If you do know that song and I just got it stuck in your head, I sincerely apologize.

I greatly value your opinion! Review!


	20. Crime Scene Three

**Crime Scene Three**

Gibbs led the way to the edge of the lake. Sure enough, there was a body. Tony, Ziva, and McGee didn't even bother waiting for instructions. McGee began bagging and tagging anything in sight, Tony began his sketches, and the camera was clicking away in Ziva's hands.

"I'll go handle the message," Colonel Mann volunteered. She left.

"He's just playing with us now," Fornell said in an undertone to Gibbs.

"You think, Tobias?" Gibbs snapped.

"You'd better calm down before we go talk to all the little kiddies about their quickly diminishing population," Fornell told his colleague.

"Do you think I'm trying to be this angry, Fornell?"

"No, but I think you need to get yourself under control. This kid's turning into your new Ari!"

"He already is my new Ari!" Gibbs snarled.

"A few more kills and he'll be worse. You don't even know what the bastard looks like this time."

"How is a not older than 18 year old outsmarting us like this, and how does he know so much about the way we work?"

"How do we know it's a student?" Fornell asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Because if it's one of the teachers doing this to his own students I'll kill him without a second thought and feel no shred of remorse. "

"That Snape character is a bit creepy, don't you think?"

"Jenny talked to Dumbledore about all the staff members. He said Snape wouldn't do it. Snape owes Dumbledore too much."

"Alright, then. Dumbledore's too old and too recognizable. Brown would have been able to point him out."

"You've got a sick mind, Tobias."

"It comes with the job, Jethro! Flitwick doesn't have the strength, and again, too old and recognizable. Binns is a ghost, can't do much of anything. That just leaves the other two male members. Hagrid and Lupin."

"I can guarantee you neither of them did it," the Colonel said, returning from investigating the door.

"How do you figure that, Holly?" Gibbs challenged.

"Hagrid is half-giant. He's far too recognizable, to quote Fornell. And if he wanted to kill in a Muggle manner, all he'd have to do was tap the kid over the head. _And_ he hardly ever comes into the school. He prefers to stay out on the grounds."

"And what about Lupin? Why wouldn't he?" Fornell asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I know Remus Lupin. He's a very kind and caring person. But to give you a 'good reason,' he can't afford to risk losing this job. It's very hard for him to get work at all."

Realization dawned on Gibbs' face. "Your cousin!" he stated. Colonel Mann didn't reply. "You realize that's grounds for me to take you off this case?"

"Good thing for me that you won't," the Colonel stated. "Your choice is between me and CIA Agent Kort."

"Go with option C!" Fornell encouraged.

"If I went with C, you'd be gone too," Gibbs told the FBI agent.

"That hurts, Jethro!"

"So the staff is off the hook, for now, at least," Gibbs declared.

"That just leaves upwards of 300 other boys in that building that could be it," the Colonel said dismally.

"At least we know it's not a girl," Fornell said, trying to look on the bright side.

"I don't care if the killer's male or female. I want their head on a platter," Gibbs growled.

"Don't hold your breath," the Colonel suggested.

Ducky and Jimmy came out of the front doors and headed towards the lake.

"Oh my," Ducky sighed. "My poor fellow, your last moments were not happy ones, were they?"

Sunlight began coming up over the horizon.

"The students are going to be heading down to breakfast before we're done if we don't hurry," the Colonel informed.

"Draw sticks to go see who interviews the owner of that cabin?" Fornell asked, pointing to the wood structure close to the forest.

"That's where Hagrid lives," the Colonel informed. "I honestly don't think he'll have anything for us, and if he did see anything, he'd go straight to Dumbledore, forget us."

Gibbs didn't listen to the last bit of information. He'd already taken off towards the cabin with Fornell.

The Colonel joined the remaining agents and the ME by the body. "Anything super unusual?"

"As of right now, no," Ducky answered. "However, if the killer is abiding by his usual pattern, then the blood on the doors there is this poor fellow's."

"People don't bleed when they drown," Tony pointed out.

"Very good, Anthony!" Ducky said teasingly. Tony didn't catch on to the sarcasm right away.

"Blood turns green in saltwater. Is the lake green at all?" the Colonel asked.

"Even if there had been green, it's mixed in by now," McGee claimed. He pulled out his flashlight and began checking, nonetheless.

Gibbs and Fornell came back before long. "Well, you were right, Colonel. Hagrid was in the forest since midnight and had only gotten back to his house five minutes ago. Said he could get us witnesses if really need be. Though they apparently would rather not be disturbed."

The Colonel smirked to herself. "Centaurs, likely."

"Are we done yet?" Gibbs asked. He was looking up at the windows of the school and could see several faces looking down at the pajama clad agents.

"Just about…" Ducky replied. He pulled out the liver probe, looked at it, and then his watch. "Time of death, approximately 4:45 this morning."

"Well no wonder the writing was so fresh when I saw it," Tony said, "I was coming back up from the kitchen at about 0515."

"Leaving about half an hour for clean up of his presence," Ducky said.

Gibbs looked at the body. "Why is he in his school clothes if he was killed so early in the morning?"

"Perhaps it's part of the killer's mindset. Kill them while they're wearing evidence of them being wizards and witches," Ducky tried.

"DiNozzo, David, McGee," Gibbs commanded, "find out where this kid was crawling."

"Crawling, Boss?" Tony questioned.

"Look at his knees and the toes of his shoes, Tony!" Ziva snapped.

"All that proves is that he was kneeling in the muddy area by the lake when he was drowned."

"His hands were in the water when we found him, they might have had mud on them, too," McGee said.

"And his robes are torn here," Ducky said, pulling up on the robes a bit so the hole was visible.

"Find out where this kid was!" Gibbs snarled.

"On it, Boss!" Tony replied. He pulled out his flashlight and began stepping carefully across the grounds. Ziva and McGee soon joined him.

"Why wash his hands to get rid of mud?" Gibbs said in an angry rush.

"Because there was more than mud on his hands. Davies fought back," Fornell theorized.

"His hands were sitting in that water for over two hours, though. And even if it _is _saltwater…" the Colonel left her sentence hanging.

"The evidence we could have gotten is long gone," Ducky finished dismally.

"Whoah! I fount it! I found it, Boss!" Tony shouted from a distance. Gibbs, Fornell, and Colonel Mann walked towards him. "Watch your step, he headed that way! But he started right here! Ziva! Camera!"

Ziva came out of the forest, camera slung around her neck, and made her way over to Tony.

Gibbs examined the ground. Sure enough, there were the tell tale marks of someone crawling. Indents in the soft dirt from knees, and then more imprints from hands. The grass was still slightly compressed from the weight.

"I still do not understand why he would crawl," Ziva stated as Tony began taking pictures, "the grass was not tall enough to hide him!"

"But it was tall enough to make him less noticeable," Gibbs answered. He began following the trail Davies had made. "It ends here," Gibbs stated. "He was headed for those rocks, there, probably hoping to look like or hide behind one."

"Should have gone to Hagrid's. He could have hidden there," the Colonel said with an eyebrow raised.

Gibbs looked over at his team. "Checking Hagrid's door for prints!" McGee declared and headed over to the cabin.

"Davies fought..." Gibbs said to himself. "Spread out. Search the lawn."

"For what? This lawn is kind of big, Boss!" Tony raged.

"Then you'd better get started, DiNozzo!" Gibbs retorted. "Find me evidence of a struggle!"

Everyone split and began doing as was ordered of them. An hour later, no one had found anything, and they still weren't done, though they'd made it from the gate to past the lake.

"Enough," Gibbs declared. "There's nothing." He led Tony, Ziva, McGee, Fornell, and Colonel Mann back into the school. The doors to the Great Hall were open and it was filled with students. Breakfast had started nearly fifteen minutes ago. The investigators ignored the quickly advancing silence in the hall and continued up the stairs, back to their office to change and get ready for the day.

Gibbs came back into the bull pen, showered, dressed, and ready to get back to work. He was truly tempted to turn around when he saw Professor McGonagall waiting for the team.

"As soon as you're all ready, Agent Gibbs, Professor Dumbledore wants to make sure you eat," McGonagall said. She didn't sound quite like her usual self.

Abby popped out of her lab. As opposed to earlier in the morning, she had, by now, applied her makeup, thrown her hair into pig tails, and changed into dark jeans and a black skull-patterned shirt. "Gibbs!" she said joyously and skipped over to the man. She looked him straight in the eye. "Someone needs a hug!" she declared and threw her arms around Gibbs' neck.

"Thanks, Abbs," Gibbs said quietly. He kissed her on the check and pulled away. "What have you got?"

"I have a complaining DNA sequencer, but it'll get over it! And I am beginning my caf-pow withdraw. Coffee can only keep me happy for so long!"

"Abby!"

"Oh! About the case!" Abby said, pretending as if she hadn't known. "Ducky hasn't given me anything from Davies yet, but I put the staff's DNA on hold to start the sample the Colonel got from the message. Nothing on it yet, so it's probably the fourth victim's.

"You know, Gibbs, you should start working on a boat. I bet it'd calm you down."

"Go back to work for now, Abby. I'll have someone come get you when we're about to head out."

"Yes, sir!" Abby saluted.

"Don't call me 'sir', Abbs."

"Yes, Gunny!" Abby tried again. She marched back to her lab.

"TONY!" Ziva's voice shouted somewhere out of sight.

Tony ran into the bull pen and jumped into his chair and quickly set to work. "I've been here for the past fifteen minutes if Ziva asks!"

"DiNozzo, slap yourself. I don't feel like getting up," Gibbs said as he shifted a pile of papers on his desk.

"Is that a suggestion or an order?" Gibbs' look gave Tony his answer. "Slapping self and getting back to work, Boss!" Tony tapped himself on the back of the head and set to work.

Ziva stormed into the bull pen, right over to Tony's desk. "You took my soap!"

"Why on earth would I take your vanilla scented soap that was made in France, Officer David?"

"Shut up and work," Gibbs said evenly from his desk.

Ziva gave Tony one more murderous glance before going to her own desk.

Within five minutes McGee, Fornell, and the Colonel had rejoined the rest of the group in the bull pen as well.

"DiNozzo, get Ducky. McGee, call Abby. Ziva, the Director." The three agents left their desks and got the person they were told to.

"Do you plan on fixing the hole you made earlier, Agent Gibbs?" Jenny asked as she came down the stairs with Ziva a minute later.

"Nah. It adds character," Gibbs answered.

"It wasn't so much of a question as a, 'you're doing it', sort of thing."

"Then I guess I'm fixing the hole… eventually. Come on, we've been asked to breakfast."

"Again? That's like… the third time this week!" Tony complained.

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. He was complaining about getting food?

"I agree. Breakfast in the Great Hall takes too much time," Ziva put her two cents in.

"But we can't turn down an invitation!" Abby butted in. "That's just plain rude! Besides, Colonel Mann and Fornell haven't been in the Great Hall yet! Come on, it'll be fun!" The forensic scientist opened the door and led the way out.

* * *

I have failed to come up with a title for next chapter. So I shall sum up - The NCIS team and it's attachments head out to meet all the students to get all the Muggle information they think they'll need!

YAY! Please review, I do love those things very much, as do I love the people that write them. :)


	21. Classrooms, Ho!

**Classrooms, Ho!**

With two new additions, the order in which the agents sat switched up. Jenny still sat next to McGonagall for fear that Gibbs would end up there if she didn't. Next to her was now Fornell, then Gibbs, then the Colonel, Ducky, Jimmy, McGee, Abby, Ziva, and Tony.

The team was forced to eat quickly. By the time they had gotten down to the Great Hall there was only ten minutes of breakfast left. Gibbs hardly ate anything, though. He was far too distracted and angered by the fact that it was _someone_ in that hall, that very moment, that was beginning to play mind games with him now. _Someone_ right in front of him had killed three people and raped another. And there was no way for Gibbs to tell who it was.

Dumbledore stood up. He quickly introduced Colonel Mann and Agent Fornell before getting to the real announcement. "I ask that those of you sixth and seventh years that do not have class first go to their common rooms. Things will be explained once you're there! Dismissed!"

Students began filing out to go to their class, though the older looking ones weren't very happy.

Tony bent down and grabbed something out of his bag under his chair. He slammed his NCIS hat onto his head and smiled. "Let's get to work!" The agent leapt out of his seat and grabbed his backpack from underneath it.

"Ducky, Abby," Gibbs started as he put on his own hat and jacket, "go back. Finish. Then call and meet us."

"Mr. Palmer and I have already finished the external exam and we aren't proceeding until the Davies family comes to visit," Ducky told Gibbs.

"Abby?"

"You'll just have to live without me, Gibbs. I've got all the evidence you brought me this morning, plus all the DNA we got last night, and then I have files to add to my lovely computer!" the young Goth said with bounce. "It's like Christmas all over again!"

"Tony, McGee, Colonel, bring Abby and the Director back to the office and then start searching the halls. Fornell, Ziva, Ducky, Palmer, with me. Down to the dungeons."

"Oh, wait! Gibbs! Can I please go to the dungeons?!" Abby begged, "Please, please, please, pretty please?"

"Some other time, Abby," Gibbs stated before heading off.

"I never get to go on the adventures," Abby pouted.

"I don't anymore, either, Abby," Jenny sighed.

"Ladies?" Tony asked, gesturing for them to lead the way.

"Hey, Tony! Do you know what would cheer me up?" Abby questioned as she took the lead back to the Room of Requirement.

"What would cheer Miss Sciuto up?"

"A Caf-Pow!"

"If I could, I would, Abby. Sorry," Tony said seriously.

"There's got to be a way I can get my hands on one!" Abby said determinedly.

* * *

Gibbs and company exited the potions classroom.

"Well, that's one down," Jimmy said, trying to raise spirit a bit.

Ziva tore the attempt apart, "One class down, seven more to go, plus the four common rooms."

"Then we should get moving," Fornell suggested.

Ziva grudgingly picked her bag back up and followed her colleagues out of the dungeon hall and up the stairs.

Gibbs' phone vibrated. He answered it quickly. "Gibbs."

"Hey, Boss!" Tony greeted.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs snapped. "Abby is supposed to have your phone!"

"She's done with it, Boss. There was nothing on it or my holder. Which is kind of odd, considering you have to touch the holder to get to the phone… but the holder wasn't cleaned. My prints were still all over it – "

"DiNozzo!"

"Point, Boss!" Tony came back to his original point. "We have made a round through the entire school and have escorted twelve kids attempting to skip back to their classes. Where are we meeting you at?"

"On the grounds. We're headed to the greenhouses."

"Greenhouses! On it!" Tony ended the call.

Gibbs didn't look at the front doors as he opened them. The bloody message still sat on it, a hideous reminder of his failing.

Tony, McGee, and the Colonel were soon running across the grounds and finally caught up with their colleagues. They all entered the greenhouse packed with students.

"Perhaps we should take this outside?" Ziva asked as she eyed a plant snaking its way towards her.

"Just smack it away and it won't hurt you," Professor Sprout advised.

"There's also a lack of clean space to work at, Professor," Tony elaborated on Ziva's point, seeing as the Israeli was too busy attempting to bat away the green stem crawling up her leg.

"Very well," the teacher conceded. "Outside!" she called. Students rushed the door, eager to get away from all the plants.

"Tony, my knife is in my boot," Ziva said, "Give me yours!"

The plant was rapidly climbing Ziva's leg, threatening the deep wound going all the way around her waist. Tony quickly handed his blade to his co-worker.

"Hold on just a moment!" Professor Sprout raged. "You can't cut that!"

"What do you suppose I do, Professor?" Ziva snarled. Her voice began tensing more and more. She couldn't pull away, and now she apparently couldn't cut what was attacking her away.

Professor Sprout calmly walked across the greenhouse and punched a massive plant's base.

The green winding up Ziva's leg feel to the floor and she quickly stepped away. "I hate plants," she said in an undertone. Tony laughed at her and ran out of the greenhouse before she could hit him.

Other than that, getting what they needed from the Herbology class went without incident, though Professor Sprout seemed to have developed a strong dislike for Ziva.

"She is crazy!" Ziva hissed as they walked away from the greenhouses, towards the part of the grounds that the Care of Magical Creatures class was being held.

"Try to be a little bit more understanding, Ziva! Enter the mind of the Herbology Professor. What would you have done in that situa – " Tony was cut off from his teasing by a fist coming into contact with his gut.

"Well hello, agents!" a large man greeted as the team approached. Not large as in fat, large as in twice as tall as any of the people that had slowed considerably once they'd seen him.

"Please don't eat me!" Tony begged, too quietly for anyone to hear but McGee and Ziva. They were too appalled to laugh.

Colonel Mann took lead on this one. "Professor Hagrid, I assume?"

"Nope!" the giant boomed, "Jus' Hagrid!" He held out his hand to the blonde. It was the size of a disc sled.

None the less, Colonel Mann extended her hand in return and proceeded to have it crushed by the friendly giant. "Lieutenant Colonel Mann."

"Oh, I know tha'!" Hagrid chuckled. "I've heard abou' you from Professor Lupin! Good man, good man!"

The Colonel smiled. "Well, we need to set to work, if you don't mind…"

"Sure, sure! Alrigh', kids! Do wha' yer told!" Hagrid took a seat on the grass off to the side and let the agents do their jobs.

As Gibbs continued questioning fourth year Ravenclaws and Slytherins, his dislike for the latter House grew and grew. They were excessively uncooperative and rude. He just barely restrained himself from smacking several of them upside the head.

Fornell finished the last interview and the agents hurriedly packed up and left.

Tony, Ziva, and McGee complained about the Slytherins all the way to their next destination. Gibbs, Fornell, the Colonel, Ducky, and Jimmy chose to keep silent.

Fornell knocked on the door to their next classroom. A voice squeaked something foreign and the door swung open.

"Agents!" Professor Flitwick said warmly. He stood on a stack of books at the front of the room, allowing him to see over the front desks. "Please, set up wherever. These are the fifth year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs."

Tony looked across the room. Two red-heads immediately caught his eyes. The Weasley twins. They were looking at him oddly, and it made Tony feel uneasy. Their smiles and them beginning to whisper didn't help. "Probie, Ziva, I call not dealing with the red-heads," Tony told his colleagues as he handed them each a stack of finger print cards.

"Why, Tony? Have they done something to you?" Ziva began teasing with immense joy.

"They haven't, but they will," Tony unwisely responded.

"Huh," Ziva said. She smiled and set up her print station.

"I don't know what you and your crazy ninja assassin senses are thinking, but don't do it. I know where you sleep, David!"

"Really?" Ziva's eyes popped as she spoke and she let a chuckle loose.

Gibbs came up from behind them and smacked both of them upside the head (though in an underhanded way that the students couldn't see). Ziva and Tony immediately shut up and focused on their work.

A while into working, a hand slammed down in front of Tony's face. "Ink me up!" said a familiar voice. Tony looked up at the face of one of the completely identical twins. His lip twitched. "I like this attire much better than your night wear," the twin said with a grin.

Ziva raised an eyebrow at her colleague. "Agent DiNozzo?"

"You know, Officer David, I was thinking about doing a bit of gardening later. Perhaps you'd like to join me?" Tony's statement had the desired effect. Ziva glared for a moment, but then went back to work, pretending Tony wasn't even there.

"Mr. Weasley, just get the entire tip of your finger covered in ink and roll it on the paper," Tony instructed the twin.

"Right away, Mr. NCIS agent, sir!" The twin did as asked.

"Hey," Tony called the twin back as he prepared to move on to get his mouth swabbed. Tony beckoned the teenager closer to him and said lowly, "You keep your trap shut. It's a joke to you, but it can get me in serious trouble. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!" The twin straightened and saluted.

"Other hand," Tony said exasperatedly as the twin walked off. The agent turned back to his station and felt the urge to throw something as the first twin's duplicate brother stepped up to the desk.

Interviews were wrapped up and Tony was the first one out of the room.

"So what was he talking about, Tony?" Ziva began annoyingly.

"My gardening offer still stands, Officer David," Tony retorted.

Ziva wasn't backing down so easy this time. However, when she opened her mouth, Gibbs spoke before her. "Now is an opportune moment to shut your mouths."

The next class was an odd one. History of Magic. Over half the second years were asleep on their books, and the Professor didn't even notice the agents entering. It took Gibbs a full three minutes to get Professor Binns' attention. Class didn't stop, however. Binns continued lecturing as his students got their prints and pictures taken, mouths swabbed, and were interviewed.

"Oh man… and they have to be in there all day…" Tony said sympathetically as the team left the room.

"If you were listening, Anthony, what Professor Binns was saying was actually quite fascinating," Ducky said.

"I couldn't hear him over his students mental screaming, Ducky," Tony quipped.

"What class are we going to next, Gibbs?" Ziva asked.

Gibbs stopped outside a door. "Ancient Runes."

"That sounds interesting!" Jimmy said happily. At a look from Tony he added, "Well, it'll be way more interesting than History of Magic, at least."

Gibbs knocked, and then entered. The students in the classroom were fairly easy to deal with. Palmer was more difficult. He talked to Professor Babbling the whole time, absorbing as much information as he possibly could until Ducky, of all people, hushed him up. Despite that, things went quickly and the group was headed off to the last class before going to the common rooms.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - To the Common Rooms

Every time you fail to review I cry a river. Like, seriously. People around me are all running out to buy canoes. Save these poor people some money. Review!


	22. To the Common Rooms!

**To the Common Rooms**

"Now we just have Transfiguration. The common rooms shouldn't be so bad," Fornell stated. He, the Colonel, and Gibbs were a bit of ways in front of everyone else. "Are you going to play nice with the teacher, Jethro? Or are you going to start mouthing off?"

"I haven't decided yet, Tobias!" Gibbs answered.

"I'd be careful. Professor McGonagall might turn you into a frog if you disrespect her in front of her class," Colonel Mann joined the taunting.

"Would you turn him back human, Colonel?" Fornell asked.

"Grow up, Tobias!" the Colonel snapped.

"Just asking!" Fornell defended.

"You knock, Fornell," the Colonel said, stepping back from the door to allow him forward.

"Why?" the FBI agent asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because you're the only one of us she doesn't hate yet."

"You say it as if she's likely to. Why?"

"Because you're a bastard," Gibbs answered instead of the Colonel. "Now knock. We don't have all day, and the kids already missed lunch because of us."

Fornell shook his head, but knocked all the same. Professor McGonagall opened the door and let them in. "Third year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws," she told them as they finished hauling in their bags.

As the team was setting up, Gibbs' phone began vibrating in his pocket. He sighed and turned his back on the class before answering. "Abby, this better be pretty important!"

"Oh, but it is, my silver haired fox!" Abby said over the phone.

"Abbs!"

"You always ruin my fun, Gibbs!"

"Abby! Why'd you call?"

"I called because I finished all of the staff's stuff and I processed the majority of the evidence you got me this morning. I'm running low on things to multi-task with! Where's my mass of presents?"

"How are you done with all that DNA?" Gibbs was genuinely confused. DNA took hours. Multiple DNA took days.

"Bless the Room of Requirement a thousand times over!" Abby said joyously. "I was complaining to myself about how you were going to be badgering me to move faster, and then machines just started appearing! I have multiples of everything now! It's so cool!"

"Alright, I'll send someone down." Gibbs hung up. "Palmer, McGee! Bring Abby all the things from the first three classes."

"She's done with all that we gave her this morning, already?" McGee asked.

"Apparently. Get moving!"

"Right, Boss!" McGee handed the camera over to Tony and began grabbing bags. Jimmy pulled off his gloves, apologized to Ducky, and then started slinging bags over his shoulder, as well. Then they were both gone.

"Hey! Ziva! You want to take pictures?! It'll be fun!" Tony sounded half convincing.

Ziva looked at Tony's face, then the camera in his hands. "No thank you, DiNozzo. I am perfectly fine where I am!" she said smugly. As if to prove her point further, she took the supplies Tony had pulled out for himself and combined them with hers. In truth, Ziva would rather take pictures than prints, but there was no way she was going to give Tony what he wanted.

"Shouldn't someone help Officer David get prints? It'll back everything up, otherwise," Colonel Mann suggested.

"Go right ahead, Colonel," Fornell said.

"I was thinking that one of you two should go. Even up the male-female ratio."

Gibbs and Fornell looked sideways at each other. "Nah," they both said.

"McGee and Palmer will be back in ten minutes," Gibbs provided an excuse.

Colonel Mann rolled her eyes. It would be a long ten minutes.

Things were going extremely slow until the junior agent and ME's assistant finally returned. McGee took the camera back, and Tony returned to getting prints.

"Name?" Ziva asked without looking up. Her pen was poised on the print card, ready to write.

"Hermione Granger," the girl in front of Ziva said. As Ziva began writing, the girl couldn't bite back her question. "Do you know when I'll be able to go see Lavender?"

Ziva finally looked up. "No, Miss Granger, I do not. Miss Brown is in Madam Pomfrey's control while she is healing from her physical ailments."

"And then what will happen to her?" Hermione bit her lip.

"What will happen to Miss Brown after that is not my call, Miss Granger. I do not know," Ziva answered honestly.

"She'll probably be sent home," Tony provided from next to Ziva, "Or at least be gone for a while."

Hermione nodded and rushed through giving up her finger prints and then hurried off to the next station.

Ziva spared a glance at Professor McGonagall. She'd been listening and, for some reason, did not seem happy. Although, Ziva thought, the Professor does not ever look happy when Gibbs is in the same room… The Israeli shook it off and returned her full focus to work.

Colonel Mann finished the final interview and then, for what seemed like the thousandth time that day, the team picked up all their equipment and headed out of the classroom.

"Good God!" Tony exclaimed once the classroom door closed. "Someone tell me we're almost done!"

"We still have to visit all the common rooms, Tony." Ziva sounded tired.

"You know, Boss, I'm feeling a little bit under the weather, so if you – " Tony was cut off from his attempt at wiggling away by a smack to the back of the head.

"Agent Gibbs!" called a voice.

Gibbs stopped walked and heaved an extremely deep sigh. "Play nice!" Fornell reminded.

Gibbs turned around and walked back towards Professor McGonagall who was waiting just outside her closed classroom door. "Professor?"

"Did I hear correctly when Agent DiNozzo said Miss Brown would not be returning to class?" she hissed.

"It's not DiNozzo's call, but he was right," Gibbs answered evenly. "Once Dr. Mallard and Madam Pomfrey give the all clear we'll start arranging for her to go home."

"She should return to her classes! It's what she's used to, and if she goes home she'll fall behind!"

Gibbs gave a scoff of disbelief. "Of course! Her mind will heal as fast as her body. She'll be fine walking the halls with the thought that her rapist is walking around somewhere close by."

"One of them isn't leaving this hallway alive," Tony whispered to Ziva.

"Getting her back to her regular schedule will keep her mind occupied. She'll forget about it and move on!" McGonagall argued.

Colonel Mann stepped forward next to Gibbs. "Professor, do you even know what rape is?"

"Yes…" the professor responded slowly.

"Good! Next question. Have you ever known anyone that's been raped? Helped a friend through it, maybe?"

"No, but –"

"Then you have no place thinking you know what's best for Lavender!" The Colonel broke her calm composure. Her eyes began burning, her lips tightened, and her voice started rising. "Lavender Brown, for all intents of purpose, is dead. She died Tuesday night, and a skittish, untrusting, horrified, and scarred person took over her body. She _can't_ think of anything else. She _can't_ just go back to normal and get over it. Sending her back to class is one of the worst things we could do for her. She'll go home, and her parents will decide what happens from there. You no longer have a say! Are we clear?" Colonel Mann turned around and began walking before a response was given.

"That about sums it all up," Gibbs said. He headed off as well, and everyone else followed.

"Well, Colonel, congratulations! I didn't think you were of our kind!"

"What do you mean, Fornell?"

"You're a bitch! Welcome to the B club!" Fornell held out his hand.

"You're about to lose a hand, Tobias," the Colonel warned.

"So who'd you know, Holly?" Gibbs asked as they took on a staircase.

"Best friend in high school. Disappeared for three days after junior prom, came back and wasn't the same. Her parents were going to make her go back to school. She killed herself four days before term started. Never found him," the Colonel summed up quickly and blankly.

"Tony! Mess with me if you would like, but I will not be held responsible when your head is cracked open on one of these stairs!" Ziva snarled near the bottom of the staircase.

"Come on, Ziva! You wouldn't do that to me!"

"Is that what you think?"

"Don't push it, Tony," McGee advised.

"What part of this conversation involves you, McGoo?" Tony snapped.

"Don't they ever just give it a rest?" Colonel Mann asked exasperatedly.

"Nope," Gibbs answered simply.

The team stopped in front of a handless door. Ha. Funny. A knocker, but no handle. Gibbs grabbed the eagle shaped knocker and rapped it against the door.

"Yet out of the ashes comes new life in the form of what?"

Gibbs looked around behind him with an agitated look on his face.

"Wasn't any of us, Boss!" Tony defended himself as well as his coworkers. "It was the door!"

"Doors don't talk, DiNozzo."

"Answer and you may enter!" said the same voice that had asked the question.

Gibbs glared at the door. He used the knocker again. The voice asked the same question. Though, this time, Professor Sinistra opened the common room door. "Sorry!" she gasped. "I heard you knock the first time and went to get them all out of their rooms! I thought you'd let yourselves in… Anyway! Sixth and seventh year Ravenclaws that didn't have class!"

Gibbs looked at the students in Hogwarts robes, blue and bronze badges sewn on. They didn't look impressed, nor did they look happy. Oh joy.

As had been expected, the Ravenclaws weren't very friendly, but they cooperated. The team was in and out fairly quickly.

"Are we allowed to leave, now?" one of the seventh years asked agitatedly. "I need to get to the library and I can't finish one of my essays until I do so."

"You'll have to wait to finish until we go to the other three common rooms," Fornell told the student. The Ravenclaw huffed and then retreated to his dormitory.

"What kind of kid _wants_ to go to the library?" Tony asked in disbelief as the team walked across the school.

"I like, and always have liked the library, Tony," Ziva informed.

"Each House has their own reputation, DiNozzo," the Colonel began explaining. "Slytherins are known for being rather sly and think highly of themselves. Hufflepuffs are very loyal and hardworking. Ravenclaws are the brainiacs. Gryffindors prize bravery."

"So if Ziva were to be in a House, she'd be a Ravendork?" Tony questioned.

"I don't know. Left or right?" Colonel Mann asked as the hallway split.

Gibbs looked down at the map in his hands. "Right." Another staircase, then a hall, then the portrait of the fat lady.

"I don't think it takes long enough to get here!" Tony said sarcastically.

"Password?" the fat lady asked.

Before Gibbs could speak, the portrait swung open to reveal a tired looking man in patched up robes. He smiled at them. "I heard you coming," he said in explanation.

"Funny," Tony said, entering, "I couldn't hear anything from outside when I was in here before."

"You think you were being quiet, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked. "Start working! Let's go!"

"If Officer David or Colonel Mann would be kind enough to call the ladies down from their dorms, I'll go get the boys," Lupin offered. He took off up the spiral staircase to the right.

"I will go get the girls," Ziva said. She went off towards the left staircase and disappeared.

Gibbs looked at the staircases thoughtfully.

"What are you thinking, Jethro?" the Colonel asked suspiciously.

"I'm thinking that I want to look through everyone's room… the gun and knife are somewhere."

"I don't know if you've seen, Jethro, but this place is massive. The murder weapons could be anywhere," Fornell stated.

"No," Gibbs declared, "He'd keep them close-by to keep an eye on them."

Students began coming down the staircases and the conversation was halted. Ziva came back to her station and quickly pulled out her things and the routine went on. Students got their pictures taken by McGee, then went over to Tony and Ziva to get their prints taken, and then over to Ducky and Jimmy to forfeit saliva for DNA, then over to Gibbs, Fornell, or the Colonel to answer questions. Once students were finished, most of them returned to their dormitories.

The last student, a seventh year Gryffindor boy sat down across from Gibbs. The agent looked up from his paper and immediately recognized the flaming read hair. How many Weasleys were there? The team had now run into five of them!

"Percy Weasley, sir," the boy said, holding out his hand to shake, "Prefect and Head Boy. If you need anything, I'll be happy to help."

He'd shape up to be a fine politician, Gibbs thought. "Thanks for the offer. I think we'll be alright," Gibbs told him. He then started firing questions at him before he could try to strike up some fancy conversation, and sent him on his way immediately after the last question. Gibbs didn't exhale until he saw Percy go up the stairs.

Tony, Ziva, McGee, Ducky, and Jimmy were already packing up. Fornell was putting things into manilla envelopes, and Colonel Mann was talking to Professor Lupin.

"I thought you retired, Colonel," Lupin said.

"I thought I had to. But lo and behold, here I am! The team that would usually come help on this case, my old team, is already working a very involved case. No one could be spared, and that was the only team with high enough clearance to come here. So I was called, and I accepted," the Colonel explained.

"You coming, Colonel?" Gibbs asked as he threw a bag over his shoulder and headed towards the door.

"Perhaps we'll get to talk later," Lupin said, sensing Gibbs' impatience.

"Bye, Professor!" Colonel Mann left in a hurry to catch up with her retreating coworkers.

"Slytherin next, then?" Fornell asked as he looked at the map he'd taken from Gibbs.

"No. We'll go there last," Gibbs stated.

"Slytherin's closer."

"The Slytherins are going to piss us all off, and the Hufflepuffs don't deserve that," Gibbs responded. "We go to Hufflepuff next."

"Where ever we go, we had better hurry things up," Ziva said, "It is almost time for dinner and the students have already missed lunch."

"Dinner can be held later, if needed, Ziva. They don't have anywhere to go," Gibbs argued. "McGee!"

"Right here, Boss!"

"Once we're done, go straight to Abby's and help get things done."

"Alright!" McGee smiled. Working in the lab meant being away from Gibbs, who was likely to be extremely tired and extremely aggravated.

"Step lightly, Probie," Tony advised. "Miss Sciuto has been without Caf-Pow for days now!"

McGee's face fell completely. Maybe he would rather be in the bull pen than the lab…

Hufflepuff went off without any problems whatsoever. The students were cooperative and welcoming. The team was in and out in record time.

Then it was off to Slytherin. Gibbs was already getting aggravated. Half-way through the day he noticed that the vast majority of students causing them trouble had green and silver patches sewn onto their robes. Now they were off to deal with the oldest, likely mouthiest ones.

Rude though they were, Gibbs thought it highly unlikely that any of them was the culprit. They flinched horribly and stepped back every time someone from the team reached out to them for anything, and frequently commented on how disgusting Muggles were.

The team packed in record speed and hurried towards the door.

"Tell me I can leave!" Madam Hooch said urgently behind them.

"Slytherin common room was our last visit. You can go," Gibbs granted permission

"Out of my way!" Hooch commanded. She pushed past Tony and Ziva and left the common room first. "I can't believe I lived through seven years of that!" she muttered to herself once in the hall.

The team left the room and started their way back towards the Room of Requirement. "Teams for release," Gibbs began. "Tony, Fornell. Lower three levels. McGee, Colonel. Middle two. Ziva, with me. We'll get the top three. Ducky, Jimmy, get back to headquarters." The group split to do as told.

Thirty minutes later, the Great Hall was filled with extraordinarily hungry students and staff members. Gibbs and Ziva met Tony, McGee, Fornell, and the Colonel in the Entrance Hall.

"Dinner time, Boss?" Tony asked hopefully.

"Nope," Gibbs replied. "We've got a bunch of paperwork to get into the system. Come on!"

Tony threw his head back in disappointment and looked longingly at the piled high plates of food just a few yards away.

"Come on, Tony. I am sure you would much rather be hungry and alive than full and dead," Ziva teased.

"If I'm hungry for much longer I'll be dead, anyway." None the less, Tony followed the rest of his coworkers upstairs and back to the Room of Requirement.

* * *

Next chapter - Late Hunting and Gathering

Maybe I got a little to dramatic in there? Yeah, I did. Just a bit... :/ Oh well!

There's a poll up on my profile (or there should be?) that I'd love for you all to take a look at. -hint hint-

WOW! That was an AWESOME response to the last chapter, people! I just had to update today! I love every single one of you that reviewed!

Anyway, I have to get going, but I really want to know what you guys want to see happen in the story. If I like it, I'll try to work it in. Soo... yeah.

Review! :)


	23. Late Hunting and Gathering

**Late Hunting and Gathering**

Abby had stolen Ducky, Jimmy, and McGee to help her do things in the lab. Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, Fornell, and the Colonel were all chained to their computers inputting information gathered throughout the day onto a new system McGee had set up that would only work at Hogwarts. The Director had been in MTAC all day speaking to various people wondering what was going on.

Jenny came down the stairs close to nine. She sat in McGee's chair, tired from having stood in front of a big screen all day. "Still seeing straight?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Nope!" Tony immediately answered. "I can't tell if this kid's last name has one r or two…" As if to explain why Tony was having such troubles, his stomach growled loudly.

"Maybe dinner's in order?" Jenny said with a smile.

Ziva closed the open file on her desk and looked at Gibbs. "Gibbs, if we go eat dinner now, I will make it."

"Please, Boss!" Tony begged, "We haven't eaten in over twelve hours!"

Gibbs blinked a few times and rubbed his face. "Alright. Go get everyone out of the lab."

Tony got up and began walking, then tripped over his own feet. "Ziva, I think you should go get them," Tony said, his face in the carpet.

Ziva stood and headed towards the lab, making sure to step on Tony's leg as she went.

"Ow…" Tony complained weakly.

"Get up, DiNozzo," Gibbs ordered.

Tony pushed himself off the floor and concentrated on not falling again as he returned to his desk to grab his suit jacket.

Ziva returned from the lab with three scientists and an agent in tow.

"Last one to the kitchen is a rotten egg!" Tony declared. He took off running towards the door, then failed to open it before ramming into it.

"Would you like me to turn the handle for you, DiNozzo?" Ziva asked.

Tony scowled. He opened the door and then decided running to the kitchen probably wasn't the greatest idea he'd ever had.

The team finally approached the large painting of a bowl of fruit. Tony pulled his hand across it and a handle appeared. It took him three tries before he actually grabbed it.

The kitchen was lit, though devoid of people. As Tony was used to seeing it, the kitchen was squeaky clean.

Ziva began opening cabinets and looking for things. "Oh…" she said excitedly, "they have everything!" She began pulling things out of the cabinets and putting them onto the counter. "Tony, could you find me a pan?" she asked as she threw open even more cabinets. These ones doubled as refrigerators. Ziva pulled out several things. The counter was covered with ingredients. She smiled at it.

"Planning on making a feast, Officer David?" Colonel Mann asked.

"Perhaps!" Ziva said seriously.

Tony handed an industrial sized pan to Ziva. "Closest think I could find to average size," he told her.

He then left and returned again, this time with a pot. "I'll make the noodles and you make the sauce?" he suggested.

"Done!" Ziva exclaimed. She began chopping up tomatoes.

Abby skipped over to Ziva. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Find plates," Ziva requested.

"I think you want an apron more, Ziva!" Abby pointed at Ziva's light brown shirt that now had flecks of tomato juice on it.

"I do not like this shirt that much anyway!" Ziva declared. She slid several smushed tomatoes into the pan and then returned to the counter to chop more.

Abby began looking for plates and silverware. Eventually, she found a whole closet full. She grabbed plates from the lowest stack there was and got those over to the table just big enough to fit everyone, then returned for forks, knives, and spoons.

Tony opened a pantry. "Oh yeah! First try!" he exclaimed happily as he pulled out a container of unmade spaghetti.

Gibbs watched his team from the table and couldn't help but smile a bit.

"McGee!" Abby shouted, "Help me set the table! Ten places won't set themselves!"

McGee grudgingly got out of his seat and did as Abby demanded.

"So what did SecNav have to say?" Gibbs asked Jenny.

"He said, and I quote, 'What the hell are you doing to not have any leads?' I'd say he's a bit ticked off," Jenny answered.

"He's not the only one," Gibbs said quietly.

"SecNav can chew you out all he wants. No one's going to take us off the case. That'd be too risky. We know too much," Fornell pointed out.

"Getting taken off the case isn't what I'm worried about, Tobias."

"When are the Davies coming, Ducky?" Colonel Mann questioned.

"Not until tomorrow evening, at least. Professor Flitwick said they're both Muggles. They're likely driving," Ducky responded.

"I was right! A half-blood, a pureblood, and then a muggle-born! Which means – "

"That the killer is targeting people," Gibbs said heavily.

"This might just be a coincidence!" Ducky argued, "I'm sure students don't go around proclaiming what heritage they are!"

"I don't believe in coincidences, Duck."

"Well if he's targeting people he'll probably settle into a pattern, right?" Jimmy threw in his idea. Gibbs, Jenny, Fornell, Colonel Mann, and Ducky all looked at him.

"Why don't you go see what you can help with, Mr. Palmer?" Ducky suggested.

Jimmy stood up and left the table. Ziva instructed him to begin making meatballs.

"He's right," the Colonel said.

"Then the next victim is going to be a half-blood?" Fornell said.

"Perhaps," Jenny said. "The next victim could be pure or half. We don't know if Brown or McDonald was the intended target."

"And we don't know if Miss Brown was even originally a part of the plan," Ducky added.

"Let's hope she wasn't!" Colonel man in put, "That would mean rape is a part of the pattern."

"Maybe it doesn't matter if it was part of the pattern to begin with. Now that it's happened, the killer might just keep it going," Jenny said glumly.

Voices could suddenly be heard outside the kitchen.

"Well, Severus, if you weren't stealing the Quidditch field from Gryffindor every chance you got, we wouldn't need to have this conversation," the voice of McGonagall said.

Gibbs immediately looked more aggravated than he had ten seconds ago.

"I have not been _stealing_ it, Minerva," Snape drawled.

"Your team has been coming to the pitch since last year with notes from you saying they needed to train their new Seeker. I believe Mr. Malfoy knows what he's doing by now, don't you think?"

"Apparently not. The boy can't ever get to the Snitch."

"So you're admitting he can't play! Or is that your way of saying that Potter is, in fact, a better Seeker?"

"Are you going to open the door or not?"

The kitchen door swung open and Professors McGonagall and Snape walked in, surprised to find NCIS there. Gibbs, Jenny, Fornell, the Colonel, and Ducky put their conversation on hold.

"What are you all doing down here?" McGonagall questioned.

"We could ask you the same thing, Professor," Gibbs replied smartly.

"We haven't eaten dinner yet, Professor," Jenny spoke over Gibbs.

"Ay! Tony! The pot is beginning to boil over!" Ziva snapped over by the stove.

"Oh yeah, I guess it is!" Tony said. He pulled the lid off the giant pot and began throwing spaghetti in. "Ahh… smell that Italian goodness!"

"Have I not told you before, Tony? The Chinese invented pasta!"

"I've already told you that was propaganda."

"Believe what you would like," Ziva said as she threw a few more things into her pan.

"Uh… Ziva? Is that all that needs to be done?" Jimmy asked as he rolled the last chunk of meat into a ball.

"That is all you can do, Jimmy. I will take it from here!" Ziva took over the small bit of counter she had given Jimmy to work. She was now in control of the whole counter once again.

Snape was looking at Tony and Ziva oddly.

"But you've already eaten," Gibbs started, as if nothing else was happening, "so what are you doing down here?"

"Getting coffee before patrol," McGonagall answered.

"Oh, the school does have a patrol then!" Gibbs sounded surprised.

McGonagall frowned at him, but chose not to start an argument.

"Hey! David! I don't want my jacket ruined here! Would you mind keeping an eye on your pan of clothes killer?" Tony asked as he stepped away from the bubbling pan of red sauce.

Ziva lowered the temperature on the burner and stirred for a moment before going back to the counter. She threw the meatballs into the pan. "My part will be done soon, DiNozzo."

"Well I'll be done in less than ten minutes, Zee-vah!"

"What did you do to your shirt?" Snape asked Ziva.

The Israeli looked down at herself. Nearly half her shirt was covered with red. "I made a mess," she said with a smile.

"Probie!" Tony barked, "Get over here and help me drain the noodles!"

"Aren't you supposed to be working on finding the person committing murders?" Snape hissed.

"Well, when our vision started blurring we decided it might be a good idea to eat some food, Professor," Gibbs answered. "We'll be back to work as soon as we're finished eating."

"McGee!" Abby squealed, looking at the table. "Spoons go on the same side as the knives, not the forks!"

"Little busy to fix it, Abby!" McGee called over his shoulder as he concentrated on keeping his thumbs out of the way of the boiling hot water Tony was pouring into the strainer.

Abby huffed, but went around the table and moved all the spoons.

Tony threw some butter and a few pinches of various spices into the bottom of the pot and waited for it to melt before ordering McGee to put the spaghetti back in. The senior agent stirred the noodles with the butter mix, then brought the pot over to the table. "DiNozzo family recipe!" he said proudly.

"Maybe I should dig up my will, then," McGee said under his breath.

"What was that, McGoogle?"

"Nothing, Tony!"

Professor McGonagall seemed to remember why she was down in the kitchens and headed over to the crowded counter to start coffee.

"Hey, Professor!" Abby called, "Would you mind like… making tenfold of what you were planning?"

McGonagall looked at the Goth oddly, as she always did. The make-up and odd clothes (even for a Muggle), boggled her mind. But now she was thrown off by her boldness. McGonagall thought she'd made it clear she wanted as little to do with the team as possible. None the less, she responded, "Alright…"

"Fantastic!" Abby cheered. "Ziva, do we have amazing sauce to have with DiNozzo's spaghetti or what?"

Ziva made her way to the table carrying a pan with a ladle in it. "The important part of a spaghetti dinner," she said smugly.

"I resent that," Tony stated.

Gibbs stood up and started taking plates and piling noodles onto them for his coworkers. He handed the plates to Jenny, who threw some sauce onto them before handing them down further to be eaten.

"Did you talk to Dumbledore yet, Jen?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes," she answered. "He said to do whatever we thought necessary. But don't go overboard! That's my bit."

"Ah. Can't ever go overboard on security!" Gibbs argued.

"Is this about tomorrow, Boss?" Tony asked as he handed a food covered plate to his right, looking after it longingly.

"Good guess, DiNozzo."

"So what's the plan?" Colonel Mann asked as she started twirling noodles around her fork.

"Ziva," Gibbs started, "how do you feel about under-cover work tomorrow?"

"I suppose it depends on what my cover is and what it is for," Ziva said.

Gibbs sat down, having finally finished with all the plates, and started eating his own food. "You get to play witch tomorrow, then."

"Ohhh! That sounds like fun!" Ziva chuckled. "Do I get a wand?" she joked.

"Hold on, just a moment," McGonagall butted in.

"What is it this time, Professor?" Gibbs sighed.

McGonagall chose to ignore Gibbs. "Why are you planning on dressing up Officer David as a witch?"

"So she can get into everywhere at Hogsmeade," Jenny explained.

"Hogsmeade?" McGonagall tried not to screech. "You can't go to Hogsmeade!"

"Your boss says we can, and we will," Gibbs said firmly. This only made Professor McGonagall's lips tighten and her nostrils flare.

"Pardon me," Snape drawled, "but I believe Officer David will be recognized fairly quickly."

"Oh no!" Abby exclaimed. "Not once I'm through with her! Ziva, I've got the perfect idea!" A smile spread over Abby's face. "Hey, Ducky, could you pass the parmesan?"

"We may not have wands, Professor Snape," Jenny stated, "but we can do a hell of a lot of our own brand of magic without them."

McGonagall was just about to snap a question that would surely made Gibbs grind his teeth, but a blood curdling scream stopped her.

The NCIS team and its attachments all froze completely. Some with their mouths hovering over their forks, others mid chew. Then, all at once, the agents all stood up and began running towards the door, pulling out weapons as they went. "Tony! McGee! Get Abby, Ducky, and Palmer back!" Gibbs shouted as he led the way out.

Professors Snape and McGonagall exchanged worried glances.

"McGee, you take back!" Tony took lead now that Gibbs was gone. "Come on, move quickly!" he instructed. He crept out into the hall, weapon raised, eyes looking all around, expecting something to pop out of the walls and try to steal his coworkers.

McGee walked out of the room backwards, his weapon raised as well, and like Tony, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of trouble.

"Get a head count," McGee requested before closing the kitchen door.

"Severus, you don't think - ?" McGonagall left her sentence hanging.

"I think you should go get Pomona," Snape answered blankly. He swept out of the room and hurried off.

McGonagall felt sick again. Something had happened, and to throw the agents into that much of a panic, it couldn't be anything good. She too ran out of the room.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Search and Rescue

Earplugs, anyone?

If you haven't looked at the poll on my profile page, please do so. I'm going to close it before I update again... so... yeah. Check it out.

Please be a dear and review! :)


	24. Search and Rescue

**Search and Rescue**

Gibbs attempted to turn the handle of the door with sounds of a struggle behind it. It wouldn't budge. Locked. Gibbs threw his leg at the door with all the force he had and it flew off its hinges.

A girl lay on the floor, clearly unconscious. A door on the other side of the room was still swaying, as if someone had just been through it.

"Jen, you armed?" Gibbs demanded, still creeping towards the door.

"Yes."

"Stay here with her."

Gibbs, Fornell, the Colonel, and Ziva went through the open door and found themselves in another hallway. Gibbs picked up pace.

A deafening crash could be heard from a short distance away, as if someone had knocked over something heavy. Gibbs signaled for the team to split. Ziva and Fornell headed to the right, Gibbs and Colonel Mann to the left. They all began running, though managing to keep quiet.

Colonel Mann took a hand off her gun to point at a fallen suit of armor. They were on the right track.

Gibbs could have sworn he heard a low, evil chuckle. He quickly headed in that direction. He broke into a full out sprint when he saw black fabric sweep across the corner down the hall. "Freeze!" he shouted.

Maniac laughter could now be heard. Gibbs wanted it, bad. He wanted the laughter in interrogation. He wanted to throw the laughter into prison and never let it out.

The figure in robes was now in sight, straight ahead of Gibbs, managing to keep just that far ahead. Ziva and Fornell came into sight from the other side of the hall. The figure was cornered… or so Gibbs thought. It threw open a painting and ran into the hall behind it. The portrait swung closed and refused to let any of the four law enforcement officers in.

"Colonel," Gibbs said harshly, shoving a map at her, "Get to Dumbldore's. No one in or out of anywhere! School's on lockdown!"

Colonel Mann took off, no longer bothering being quiet. Her combat boots hit the stone floor with loud thumps as she rushed off.

Gibbs, Fornell, and Ziva continued their search, but with only one team, and no idea where the secret passageway led, their hope was dwindling fast. Until…

"Hold on a second there, Bub!" Tony's voice could be heard several corridors away. The NCIS agent, the FBI agent, and the Mossad officer ran in that direction. "I said stop!" Tony yelled. Shots rang out. Gibbs sped up.

Tony could be seen in the middle of a hallway, lowering his weapon to his side, exhaling quickly. "Damn it!" he cursed, and took off running once more.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs shouted as he caught up, "Where's McGee?"

"Left him with the Director, Boss!"

"You and Ziva take left!" Gibbs ordered. He and Fornell ran straight ahead, the other option open to them.

"This is one clever son of a bitch!" Fornell admitted as he and Gibbs raced through the halls, searching for any other sign of life.

"I'm aware of that, Tobias!"

A voice rang through the halls. Dumbledore's. "All teachers to the staffroom immediately!"

Gibbs swore under his breath. "That is _not_ what I asked for!"

"School of magic, Gibbs! He's probably got all the doors locked right now! I'm sure he's not taking this lightly."

"If he is I'll kill him myself," Gibbs growled as he jumped around a corner.

As he and Fornell kept running down halls, the walls seemed blanker than usual. Gibbs knew for sure he wasn't imagining things when he ran into the Entrance Hall. The Great Hall and Entrance doors had been swallowed by stone. They weren't even available to open. He noticed that the high windows above where the doors usually were had been blocked out by stone, as well.

"I don't think anyone's going anywhere, Jethro," Fornell wheezed. He'd doubled over, hands on knees, desperately trying to catch his breath.

Gibbs walked in circles. If their suspect was in a room, there was no getting to him now. The only thing left to do was go through the castle and have the doors revealed, one by one. Every student in a room alone would be taken in for questioning. Every room that contained more than one student would only have to be asked one question, "Were you all in here since 9:47?"

Tony and Ziva came into the Entrance Hall running.

"All the doors have disappeared, Gibbs," Ziva gasped.

"Whoever it is, they're either somewhere in the halls or safe in a room," Tony managed to say through deep breaths. "Oh, I think I'm gonna throw up!"

"Not on me!" Ziva objected weakly.

Colonel Mann came down one of the staircases into the Hall and looked at her coworkers. "Dumbledore has the staff all gathered up and doors blocked off – "

"We kind of noticed, Colonel!" Gibbs snapped.

"We should have the staff help us search! Then we can start letting people out of rooms!"

Gibbs threw his gun into its holster. "DiNozzo, call McGee. Find out what's going on with him." As he spoke, he started ascending the stairs, heading to the staffroom. Anger was, once again, radiating off him, though he was so out of breath and exhausted it barely showed on his face.

Gibbs threw open the staffroom door (it and the Room of Requirement had been left untouched by wall) without knocking and strode to the front of the room. "One of your beloved students," he began, still walking, "has made yet another attack on another one of your beloved students." Several teachers gasped. A few began whispering to each other.

"Not another death?" asked Professor Sprout, worry clear in her eyes.

Tony, who hadn't been able to report his conversation with McGee to Gibbs yet, spoke up, "No. Just knocked out. She's a Hufflepuff, younger. That's all we know right now."

Professor Sprout didn't seem to know how to act. Should she be relieved that there wasn't another dead student? Or should she be upset that one of her Hufflepuffs had been attacked?

"Whoever attacked the girl is likely out in the halls somewhere. Pair up. No one goes anywhere by themselves. Any student found in the halls needs to be taken straight to the Room of Requirement. Once everyone single hall in the castle's been searched, come back here until the other doors are opened," Gibbs ordered.

He began walking back to the door, again, speaking as he went. "Colonel, DiNozzo, Fornell, get going. David, with me!" The agents went out of the room, leaving the staff in a confused and irritable state.

The search of the halls didn't take long with 5 agents and over a dozen teachers. Just over twenty students had been sent to the Room of Requirement. Gibbs and Ziva were waiting in the Entrance Hall for the Colonel, Tony, and Agent Fornell. Several teachers past them, though none of them looked too happy.

Gibbs' pulled his vibrating phone out of his pocket and answered it. "Yeah?"

It was McGee. "The girl's awake, Boss. She said her name's Samantha Madley, first year. She doesn't remember very much… or she just isn't telling us. Problem is that we can't get her upstairs. The doors in this room turned to stone a little bit ago…"

"I know, McGee. Just sit tight for a bit. We'll come get you."

"Boss, that's not all. She's got a cut on her leg. The Director's bandaged it up as well as she can, but it looks pretty deep."

Gibbs resisted the urge to throw his phone at the hard stone wall across him. "Good work, McGee. Keep her comfortable." He hung up.

"Gibbs?" Ziva asked.

Gibbs lowered his voice as Professors McGonagall and Sprout were walking by. "Samantha Madley, first year. She was supposed to be victim five."

"Supposed to be? How do we know she already is not?" Ziva, who had her back the majority of the hall, didn't see the crossing professors, nor did she lower her voice.

Professor Sprout hurried on over. "Samantha Madley? Is that who it is? Is she alright?"

"She's cut and confused, but she'll live," Gibbs assured.

Professor Sprout visibly relaxed. "So what now?"

"We'll get her back to the Room of Requirement, Doctor Mallard will fix up her leg, and we'll ask her a couple of questions and see if we can find out what happened."

"It seems to me that you've got absolutely no idea of what's happening!" McGonagall couldn't help but snap. She was frustrated and worried beyond belief.

Gibbs, on the other hand, seemed almost calm. He responded evenly, whereas he would usually snap right back, "We're doing what we can, Professor. But this kid is smart. He knows the way things work. In both worlds."

Tony descended a staircase into the Hall. "I'd say this kid's got trophies for hide-and-seek, Boss!"

"Any word on the girl?" Colonel Mann asked as she strode across the large hall.

Ziva repeated what little information they knew.

"Anything else?" the Colonel said suspiciously, as if Ziva were hiding something.

"Not yet. McGee and the Director are stuck in the room we found her."

"Oh, poor McGee!" Fornell said dryly. "We should get him out before everyone's favorite boss loses it with him."

"Jen?" Gibbs questioned. "Nah. He'll be fine."

"Well, forget McGee," Tony said, "let's get the kid out of there!"

"Have to wait for Dumbledore to do that," Gibbs informed. He turned his attention back to Professors Sprout and McGonagall. "You and the other two Heads of House will need to be there while we question the kids."

"Need to be?" McGonagall raised her eyebrows. Gibbs didn't seem like one to say he _needed_ anything.

"Well, yeah," Tony started. "They're all kind of minors, so an adult other than the questioner needs to be present."

"Soo… what are we waiting for now?" Fornell asked.

"Dumbledore," Gibbs repeated the name. "He said he'd be down here at 2215. It's 2210 now."

Gibbs' phone began vibrating in his pocket again. "What?"

"Gibbs, that's not very gentleman like!" Abby scolded through the phone.

"Abby…"

"I got results back on the blood found on the walls this morning. The one on the Entrance Hall doors was Davies'. But the other two were in Parkinson's. He's saving their blood! It's so gross!" Abby sounded as though she were impressed, as well.

"Get Samantha Madley's blood run now, Abby."

"Not victim five?"

"She's alive."

"Is she alright?"

"We'll find out in a few hours. Get her in the system."

"Right away, Special Agent Gibbs!"

Gibbs flipped his phone shut.

"What was that about?" McGonagall asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"The messages we were given this morning," Gibbs told his fellow agents more than the professors. "The one on the Entrance doors was Davies'. The others were Parkinson's."

"He's saving blood?" Tony scrunched up his face in disgust.

"Well, we already knew that, Tony," Ziva pointed out. "He saved some of McDonald's blood, did he not?"

"Well, yeah, but this is three messages in Parkinson's blood now."

"And that is because he was able to get so much of it!"

Professor Sprout wrinkled her nose at Ziva disapprovingly.

Dumbledore came down one of the staircases and walked over to the crowd. "Agent Gibbs," he greeted.

"Well, hello, Professor Dumbledore!" Gibbs shook the older man's hand.

Professor McGonagall noticed that the two seemed to be on very good terms, and her breathing quickened. No wonder Gibbs was acting as if he had the power to do everything and anything he wanted.

"Pomona, on your way," Dumbledore requested. "Minerva, come along!" He waited for his deputy to step up next to him before leading the way down a hall.

The investigators fell behind to have their own conversation, leaving Dumbledore and McGonagall to talk as they pleased.

"Now, I may be wrong, but I have a feeling that you're not too happy right now, Minerva," Dumbledore said.

"Yes, Albus!" McGonagall hissed, "I'm _not_ happy! I can't deal with them much longer!"

Dumbledore didn't need to ask who she was talking about. "They're doing what we asked them here to do!"

"_We_? Who is _'We_?' _You_ called them here! It's like they don't even care about what's happening! They're so… so… _calloused!_"

"They're doing what's expected! Treating this like anything else they've had to deal with."

'But this _isn't_ anything else they've had to deal with! These are _children_!"

"Yes, your students. I do think you're being unfair, Minerva. I know for a fact that they aren't being calloused. Agent Gibbs, is in fact, being unlike his usual self. Sure, he's not very good with people, but Director Sheppard has informed me that she hasn't ever seen him so frustrated over not being able to find a criminal. Rest assured, everything is being done to find out who is doing this," Dumbledore told the teacher while looking at her over his glasses.

"Professor!" Gibbs called. "This is where the door was." He pointed at a spot of wall.

"Ah," Dumbledore said, turning around and going back to the wall. He pulled out his wand, tapped the stone with it several times, then finally waved it. The stone began melting away, revealing a wooden door. Dumbledore opened it.

Director Sheppard was sitting against a wall, a small girl's head in her lap. "Finally!" she exclaimed. "Tim, get over here." Jenny lifted the girl's head off her and slid out from under it.

McGee walked over to the small figure and picked it up. She was limp in his arms. Professor McGonagall gasped in horror, thinking the worst.

"She's just passed out again, Professor!" McGee said quickly.

"And it may have had something to do with this." Jenny lifted the hem of Samantha Madley's robes to the girl's knee. Her leg was completely covered in blood, and a belt had been fastened tightly just above where the wound must be, though it was difficult to see amidst the other gore.

"Yikes," Tony commented.

"McGee, get her up to Ducky," Gibbs ordered. "You should clean up, Jenny."

In her attempt to stop the blood coming out of wound on Madley's leg, the Director had soaked the hem of her own skirt in the crimson liquid and her hands were covered with it. She'd also sacrificed the belt that had been around her waist earlier in the day. To Professor McGonagall, the sight was absolutely horrifying.

Jenny took her cream-colored heels off with her blood-stained hands. "I think I want to put these in a bag, first," she said good naturedly. Blood dripped off the tip of her shoe.

Tony produced two large evidence bags out of his back pack and held them open. Jenny put a shoe in each bag.

"Gloves?" she asked. Tony got those, too, and assisted her in getting them on, so as not to get blood on the outside of them.

"Don't forget to bag the skirt!" Gibbs called after her as she left the room barefooted.

"Alright, we'll come back here later. Let's get the students off to bed, shall we?" Gibbs started out of the room without waiting for a response.

"Did you _see_, Albus?" McGonagall snapped quietly. She and the Headmaster were now several feet behind the investigators.

"Yes, Minerva, I did happen to see. I'm not quite blind yet," Dumbledore responded evenly. "Although, I do not think I saw quite the same thing you did." He looked at her.

McGonagall knew what he wanted. "I saw a woman covered in a child's blood _smiling_! And I saw six other people watch as if it were _nothing_!"

"Really? I saw a woman who sacrificed what looked like a very nice outfit to try to stop a student from bleeding to death. I also saw six people trying to move things quickly, while getting much needed evidence, to get to the rest of our trapped students."

This effectively silenced Minerva McGonagall. But it did not mean she was any less unhappy.

Bits and pieces of the agents' conversation floated back to the Headmaster and his deputy.

"If she _was_ supposed to be number five – "

"Abby sent a text, she's half-blood."

"Three messages in Parkinson's blood – "

"SecNav'll want to know – "

"What did Ducky say?"

Professor McGonagall tried to block out any voices. She didn't want to hear more.

"Stop there," Dumbledore requested. He began tapping stones again. Moments later, a door appeared. No one was inside the room, and the group moved onward.

And so the group continued. Dumbledore would stop, tap the wall a few times, and wave his wand. A door would appear. Any student alone was automatically taken to the Room of Requirement. Very few students in groups were hauled off. Most had been with the group before the time in question. By the time they reached the last door, they'd found thirty three more students that needed to be questioned.

"Alright," Gibbs began as he and the agents, plus Professor McGonagall (Dumbledore had to return to his office) started towards the Room of Requirement, "Fifty six students to get through."

"I will be happy to help with the interviewing process!" Tony volunteered.

"No…" Gibbs said slowly. "You're going to chain yourself to your desk and put more names onto the computer. Ziva, you're interviewing."

Tony opened and closed his mouth several times, but then seemed to come to a decision and left it closed. Ziva winked at him teasingly. Tony smirked back.

"Professor McGonagall," Gibbs said without looking back at her, "we need Professors Sprout, Snape, and Flitwick as well as you."

"I'll go get them from the staffroom," McGonagall responded irritably.

"Wow, she really doesn't like you, Jethro!" Fornell said as if surprised.

"Well, Tobias, I can't help that."

"And it's mutual, so he doesn't care. Not that he would anyway…" Colonel Mann let her sentence hang.

Gibbs opened the door to the Room of Requirement. The bull pen had been replaced with a large furniture-less room. It was filled with disgruntled teenagers in black robes.

"They look so happy to see us," Tony said sarcastically. "I'll go work in Abby's!"

"Jethro!" Ducky exclaimed. He came out of the morgue, pulling off gloves as he walked over towards his friend.

"How are things, Duck?" Gibbs asked, pulling the ME out of sight of the curious students.

"She's awake, for now. Rather weak, I must admit. But I shall send her up to Madam Pomfrey, who will fix her up right away, I'm sure."

"Duck…"

"No, she wasn't. You got to her in time. There's not a doubt in my mind that she would have been, though. There are bruises emerging on her wrists."

A little bit of the weight pushing down on Gibbs' shoulders lifted. "We'll keep her down here until we get all the kids sent off. Some already saw her come in. We don't need even more rumors starting."

Ducky smiled and then headed back to his morgue.

Professor McGonagall came back with the other three Heads of House, and questioning began.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - End of a Long Day

K, the poll tells me that the majority of you say it can't be long enough, and then some of you said 40 chapters was too long. Confession: I've already written over 40 chapters, but I'm trying to write a bit less drabbleish kind of stuff... so we'll see how it goes!

I love reviewers!!!!


	25. End of a Long Day

**End of a Long Day**

Interviewing went by faster than Gibbs had expected. They had started at eleven thirty, and were done by two. Each student brought to the Room of Requirement had to answer a few quick questions. That hardly took two minutes, on average. It was having them write out their excuses for being out that took so long. Several students were so fascinated with the pens they were offered that they wrote slower than usual, watching the ink 'seemingly appear' on the paper.

Needless to say, the team was absolutely exhausted. They'd been awake for close to twenty four hours now.

Tony saw his boss emerge from interrogation and popped out of Abby's lab. "Hey, we get to go to sleep now, right?" he asked hopefully.

"Not yet," Gibbs said. "Go to the nurse's office and get Madam Pomfrey."

"Hospital wing," McGonagall corrected as she came out of one of the observation rooms.

"Going to office/wing to get Pomfrey!" Tony said without his usual zeal. He left the room, his feet unintentionally dragging.

Ziva tumbled out of interrogation and made it to her freshly reappeared desk. Her head promptly fell into her arms. "This child will pay," her muffled voice said.

"Go make sure Abby and McGee are still up," Gibbs requested.

Ziva pulled her head up and gave her superior an "Are you serious?" look, to which he nodded. She stood up and stalked off to the lab. She literally jumped out of the lab less than a minute later. "I do not think Abby has had enough caffeine!" she declared sourly as she went back to her desk.

Before Ziva could put her head back into her arms, Gibbs made another order, "Get more files into the system." He walked into the morgue. Professor McGonagall got a glimpse of a young, pale, sleeping Hufflepuff when the doors opened. It sent chills down her back.

Ziva glared at the back of Gibbs' head until the morgue doors slid shut. It was only then that she pulled a manilla envelope off the top of the large stack of them on her desk and began muttering quickly in a different language.

Agent Fornell and Colonel Mann came out of interrogation rooms as well, accompanied by Professors Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout. "Good God!" Fornell exclaimed. "If there is one more kid that gets the bright idea to try and be snappy with me…" he let his sentence hang and fell into his desk chair.

"You had a problem with snappy kids, Tobias?" Colonel Mann asked as she walked past him to her own desk.

Fornell just smirked at her, knowing she was trying to aggravate him.

"Where's Gibbs?" the Colonel asked Ziva.

"Ducky's," Ziva promptly answered. "Checking on the girl before she is sent to the hospital wing."

"Hospital wing?" Professor Sprout butted in. "Is it that bad?" She didn't sound disbelieving, simply worried.

"She had a knife thrust into her leg and was hit over the head with something heavy," Ziva said without looking away from her computer screen. "She is very confused and weak and should be kept away from the other students for a while until she recovers."

Tony burst into the room with Madam Pomfrey on his heels.

"Well?" Pomfrey said shortly, "Where is she?"

"Over in there!" Tony pointed at Ducky's doors. Madam Pomfrey hurried off. Tony's shoulders loosened and he rolled his neck. Ziva raised an eyebrow at him. _"She's a nightmare!"_ Tony hissed in Spanish.

Ziva chuckled and returned to her computer. "Gibbs wants us to get more files in."

"Oh, well… he was kidding, wasn't he?" Ziva shook her head. "I can't even see straight!" Tony flipped open a file. "See? It looks like this kid's last name is Finch-Fletchley! That's not right!"

"Actually, it is," Professor Sprout told Tony. "Justin Finch-Fletchley. He's a third year in my House."

After a slight pause, Tony spoke again. "I guess I can see just fine then…" He lowered himself into his chair and began typing.

Just a few minutes later, Gibbs came out of Ducky's carrying the once again unconscious first year Hufflepuff. Madam Pomfrey was right on his heels. "Professor Sprout, if you have any questions, Doctor Mallard will answer them," he said on his way to the door. Rather than ask Ducky questions, however, Sprout hurried after Gibbs and Madam Pomfrey.

The door shut. "Now's our chance!" Tony shouted. "Quick! Everyone fall asleep before he gets back!"

"Sit down, DiNozzo!" Jenny said as she too came out of the morgue. Instead of exchanging her blood covered outfit for a clean one, she had put on a blue jump suit that said 'NCIS Medical Examiner' on the back.

"Very flattering, Director," Ziva said, examining the new apparel.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, DiNozzo, but don't you still have a crime scene to process?"

"Uh…"

"That's what I thought," Jenny said with a smile. She began climbing the stairs. "I'll be in MTAC."

"What's MTAC?"

Tony jumped. He'd forgotten there were still three Hogwarts professors in the room. "MTAC stands for Multiple Threat Alert Center. It's the place we use to talk in private and keep tabs on everything," he answered Professor Flitwick after a moment.

McGee walked out of Abby's lab rubbing his shoulder. Ziva and Tony gave him odd looks. "She kicked me out," he explained.

"Looks more like she punched you out, Probie!"

McGee took a few files off Ziva's desk and went to his own.

Gibbs returned soon after that. "Grab your gear!" he told his team. He then turned to the teachers. "What are you still doing here? Go to bed!" He left the room, his team in tow.

* * *

All that was at the crime scene was a small pool off Madley's blood. There were no fingerprints on either door. Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, McGee, Fornell, and the Colonel were in and out in less than fifteen minutes.

"Sleep now, right, Boss?" Tony asked once again.

"I want a guard up on Madley," Gibbs said.

"Why, Boss? She's up in the hospital wing passed out! She's not going anywhere!"

"I'm not worried about her going anywhere, DiNozzo. I'm worried that someone's going to try to finish the job on killing her. Ziva, take first shift. DiNozzo, take her spot in an hour. McGee, you're on after him."

Gibbs turned to Colonel Mann and Fornell. "I'll take the shift after McGee."

"I'll go next," Colonel Mann sighed. Fornell was left to take the last shift.

Ziva left the room for the hospital wing. Abby, Ducky, Jimmy, and Jenny were called from their offices. The room morphed from the NCIS headquarters into a hallway lined with bedrooms. Everyone went to their room and promptly fell asleep.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Hogsmeade

Uh... I apologize. this chapter's rather short and uneventful... I'll update pretty quickly.

I LOVE REVIEWS!!!! I mean... not like I check my email page every ten minutes for them or anything... ... ... Send me one, please?


	26. Hogsmeade

**Hogsmeade**

Later in the morning, the team was bustling about getting ready to go to Hogsmeade. They had, of course, been asked to go down to breakfast. However, the only person who went down was a disgruntled Tony to grab a plate full of toast and pitcher of water for his colleagues.

Abby was helping Ziva create her disguise in the bathroom. Gibbs, McGee, and Fornell were pouring over a map of Hosmeade, finding different positions and such for them to be in. The Colonel and DiNozzo were at their computers, files laid out in front of them. They had nothing to do until everyone left. They were staying at the school to keep an eye on the younger students.

Professor McGonagall came into the Room of Requirement twenty minutes before students would be allowed to start leaving.

Abby came out of the bathroom, went to her lab, and then back to the bathroom, on her way calling, "Ziva! Do you want green or _flames_?"

A brief laugh could be heard as Abby entered the bathroom. "Green!"

McGonagall decided she'd rather not know. "Is everyone ready to go?"

Gibbs folded up the map of Hogsmeade. "Just waiting on Ziva."

Abby came out of the bathroom once more, looking very excited. "Ziva's ready!"

"Let's go!"

McGee, Fornell, and Gibbs all strapped guns to their sides and headed towards the door.

"I thought Officer David was going with you?" McGonagall asked confusedly.

"She is," Gibbs said. "But she'll be coming through a secret passage way. If she leaves with us then her disguise will be useless," he explained.

Professor McGonagall bit her tongue. Arguing wouldn't do her any good. Agent Gibbs had Dumbledore's permission to do as he wished. She led the way out of the room and out to the grounds, and from there Hogsmeade.

"Have you made any progress, by chance?" McGonagall asked Gibbs stiffly.

"Working on it, Professor."

"You've been working on it since you got here, and all we've wound up with is two more dead students!"

"If I could make it stop, I would, Professor! But there are some killers that are smarter than others. This is one of them."

"Do the victims still have all their toes, Jethro?" Fornell asked jokingly. Professor McGonagall didn't find it as amusing as the two men did and didn't bother trying to hide it. "Just referring to another case, Professor. I was chasing the same guy for twelve years. Turned out I should have been chasing his wife, instead."

"That's a topic to be debated, Tobias!"

"Oh, yeah. I suppose. We'll never know, though. Will we?"

Professor McGonagall picked up the pace, eager to get away from the agents. After what seemed like an hour, she finally stepped over the boundary line of Hogsmeade. "Here you are. The students will start getting here in a few minutes." She ducked into one of the nearest buildings.

"A pub?" Fornell queried, looking into the window of the shop briefly. "I didn't know we were driving her _that_ far up the wall!"

Gibbs ignored the FBI agent. "McGee, go on. To your first position!"

McGee strolled down the street, trying to look casual.

"He knows he's not going to fit in no matter how he walks, right?" Fornell said to Gibbs, who only sighed and walked off.

Teenagers suddenly flooded the small town. Gibbs recognized some faces, though they had all ditched their school uniform. He stood on the steps of a closed store and watched. Finally, he saw what he was looking for. Ziva was walking through the streets. Had he not known her disguise, he would have never recognized her.

* * *

Professor McGonagall sat at a table with her coworkers. She'd purposefully sat with her back to the windows in hopes that she wouldn't even see Gibbs or his fellows.

"How are your Gryffindors shaping up for their first Quidditch game, Minerva?" Sprout asked.

"I don't know," McGonagall admitted, "I've been too busy chasing around the Muggles to see them practice."

"You make it sound like they're all bad!"

"They're just aggravating! _Especially_ Agent Gibbs, and he's the one I have to deal with most."

"I don't see anything terribly annoying about him," Snape said as he pulled a napkin under his drink at a glare from Madam Rosmerta.

"Of course _you_ wouldn't!" McGonagall snapped.

"Oh, gracious! Here comes Hagrid," Flitwick squeaked.

Sure enough, Hagrid managed to make his way through the crowded bar over to the teachers' table. "Professors," he greeted.

"Goodness, Hagrid! What have you been doing? You've got feathers all over you!" Sprout pulled one off his shoulder to prove her point.

"Ah. Hippogriffs are gettin' a bit res'less," Hagrid said as he brushed off his shirt.

"Oh, Hagrid!" McGonagall exclaimed. "Hippogriffs? You've brought some here?"

"I've been keepin' track of them!" Hagrid defended himself, though he shuffled his feet.

"What year are they for, Hagrid?" Snape questioned.

"They were for the third years," Hagrid said, not meeting any of his coworkers eyes.

"Third!" Flitwick squealed. "Hagrid! You can't do that! They're just starting Care of Magical Creatures!"

"Ah, they'll be fine!"

McGonagall ran a hand over her face. Hagrid had his heart set. There wasn't any changing it. Whatever happened, so be it.

Lupin walked into the bar in his shabby robes and made his way to the table just as Hagrid remembered he had to "go do something." "Have I missed anything interesting?" he asked as he pulled up a chair.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Sprout sighed.

"How's Miss Madley doing, Pomona?" Lupin questioned.

"She'll be alright. Poppy fixed up her leg, no problem. But she didn't want to mess with her head too much. Poppy's holding her captive for a bit yet."

"Do we have any idea what happened?"

"No," McGonagall answered shortly for Sprout. "The investigators, despite two chases and five harmed students, are none the wiser."

"Well neither are you, Professor!" Lupin reasoned.

"Shouldn't you be back at the castle, Remus?" McGonagall said irritably.

"Not for another couple of hours, at least," Lupin said with a smile.

"Don't push it," Sprout whispered to the latest arrival, "she's on edge!"

"I went through school with James. I know my limits!" Lupin whispered back, causing the Herbology professor to roll her eyes. They both rejoined the main conversation.

"Oh, look at that. Granger and Weasley are on a date," Snape droned. "That or Potter must have finally gotten himself killed."

"Potter didn't get his Hogsmeade form signed," McGonagall explained.

"Pity."

"Yes, I can sense how disappointed you are, Severus."

"Do you think they've started investigating yet?" Sprout asked before taking a sip of her drink.

"Investigating?" McGonagall snapped.

"It's Potter, Weasley, and Granger. Of course they're sticking their noses where they don't belong," Snape remarked.

"If they are, I'll kill them myself," McGonagall said lowly.

"Oh no, Minerva! Please, let me," Snape requested. He earned himself a burning glare, which he ignored.

"A bit of poking around can't kill them," Lupin stated.

"It almost has twice already," Flitwick rebutted.

"So close, so many times!" Snape sighed.

"Severus, I am about to curse you into the next century," McGonagall warned. She looked past the man to the bar. A rather pale witch with stick straight blonde hair and green eyes was trying desperately not to smile. McGonagall frowned. She really disliked eavesdroppers.

"I'm sure that as long as they keep getting away with it, they'll keep doing it," Lupin said.

"Don't you dare encourage them, Remus!" McGonagall said quickly.

"I wouldn't dream of it!" Lupin replied.

McGonagall looked at him suspiciously.

"We're in for a long night," Flitwick groaned. "The Weasleys have restocked."

McGonagall turned around in her seat to see two identical red-headed boys each carrying large Zonko's bags. She exhaled angrily. That's exactly what she needed. The Weasley twins fully loaded and ready to prank.

"Maybe Percy Weasley will be able to knock some sense into them before they do anything?" Sprout suggested hopefully. The slight up rise in spirits didn't last long. The oldest Weasley at Hogwarts walked past. His 'Head Boy' badge was pinned to his casual clothes, though it currently read, 'Clueless.' Percy had failed to notice.

"Weasley!" McGonagall barked.

Percy hurried over. "Professor?"

"Fix your badge," she told him.

Percy looked down and tore the badge off his shirt before stomping out into the street to find his brothers.

"Alright… There's always writing to Molly," Sprout said after a moment.

"We've got no proof that they're going to use what they've bought, so I can't really write to Molly yet," McGonagall sighed.

"It's Weasley and Weasley. We don't need proof," Snape said sourly. He was honestly dreading going back to his office. He'd taken thirty points from the twins a few days ago, and they had taken it astonishingly well. He now knew why.

"On this happy note I leave you!" Flitwick stated as he jumped off his chair. He left the bar and headed out into the streets.

"Merlin's beard!" Lupin suddenly exclaimed, looking out the window. "I'm fairly certain Agent Fornell just ran over three students!"

McGonagall's head whipped towards the window and her lips tightened. "There had better be a good reason for it!" She stomped out of the bar.

Agent McGee almost ran into Professor McGonagall.

"Agent McGee!" McGonagall shouted. "_What_ is going on?"

"Uh… uh..."

"MCGEE!!!" Gibbs' voice shouted from somewhere out of sight.

McGee forgot he had an angry Transfiguration professor in front of him and ran onward towards his boss's voice. McGonagall quickly followed, absolutely furious. Her anger turned to worry in a flash as she turned a corner down an uncommon street and was met with a vivid red, dripping message. _"I think I'll take a bit of a breather…"_

"Boss, I don't have any of my gear!" McGee wheezed. At a firey glare from Gibbs, he hastily added, "But Ziva might!"

"Ziva," Gibbs yelled, "is undercover right now, McGee! Call DiNozzo!"

McGee immediately pulled out his phone. "No signal, Boss!"

Gibbs and Fornell both checked their phones. Gibbs threw his to the ground and walked a tight circle. "Go. Switch places with Tony. I want him here in twenty minutes!"

"Boss, it took us fifteen minutes to walk here!"

Gibbs got in his subordinate's face. "Then you'd better run, McGee!" McGee took off without further hesitation.

"Gibbs, we might have another body! We need David to help us search!" Fornell said, ignoring the fact that Professor McGonagall was just a few feet away, staring at the message written on the side of the building.

"No," Gibbs argued. "We need Ziva as is. Tony will tell her what's going on."

"How do you plan on pulling that off without blowing her cover?"

"It's DiNozzo, Tobias."

That reasoning confused McGonagall, but obviously made sense to Agent Fornell. "Well shouldn't you be out looking then?" she raged.

"I don't think there is a body," Gibbs said. "Killer got blood from Madley last night. This is probably hers here. He's panicking. Thinks if he goes off the grid for a while things will settle back down and he'll be left alone."

"You planning on picking up your phone, Jethro?"

As an answer, Gibbs stepped on it. The screen cracked and died.

"I guess not."

"Did you see who did it?" McGonagall asked.

"Yeah, Professor! He's hiding under my phone!" Gibbs quipped.

"I don't appreciate your rudeness, Agent Gibbs!"

Gibbs managed to restrain himself from making another smart comment. He turned his attention to examining the message once more. Brush strokes, again. There were no security cameras in the alley. Although, wizards and witches seemed to be far behind on technology; they still used candles instead of light bulbs. Gibbs thought there was a very low chance of security cameras being anywhere.

Tony came to the scene a minute late, huffing and puffing. "Got – the stuff!" he managed between breaths.

Gibbs ripped the back pack off Tony and began pulling things out of it.

Tony finally regained enough breath to help take pictures. "Do we have a body?"

"I don't think so. Go find Ziva, tell her to look around."

"On it, Boss!" Tony headed out onto the main street and began walking up and down it, looking.

Gibbs and Fornell finished getting samples and pictures. "I don't want this message cleaned up until we find out who wrote it," Gibbs told Professor McGonagall.

"You'll have to take that up with the owner of the building," McGonagall replied. "His name's Aberforth. Good luck," she said sarcastically.

"Go back," Gibbs requested, "act like nothing's wrong." He and Fornell began walking around the building, finally finding the door and entering the dark shop.

Professor McGonagall inhaled deeply. Seeing Gibbs' phone on the ground, she picked it up and pocketed it, thinking he would need it later. She turned on her heel and left the alley.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Nightfall and Full Moon

No, not full moon as in Twilight. Don't ask. I will hurt you. I'm so sick of that series.

ANYWHO! I know you've all been asking, "Where's my update?" "Why hasn't there been an update?" "Has alittleinsane abandoned us?" NO! I wouldn't ever abandon you! I have legitimate excuses for lack of update!

Excuse one:

School is starting back up again, draining me of all my energy. There may also be a problem involving the fact that I didn't actually do any of my summer work over the summer and am now hurrying to do it before I have to turn it in... slight chance.

Excuse two:

The computer that has all my documents on it decided it wasn't throwing big enough fits already and decided to get a big virus. I do not know how to fix it. I'm honestly quite surprised I even managed to get this chapter up! This is a very big problem. Until this virus is fixed, updates are going to slow down and become rather irregular. But I really don't want that to happen... Gosh... where's that geek that hack - _helped_ my friend with their computer problems last week?

So there you have it. Moving on!

Whether you just want to yell at me for not doing my work when I was supposed to, give me advice to fix my bratty computer, thank me for finally updating, or some other thing, leave me a review! I do love hearing that voice that tells me, "You've got mail!"


	27. Nightfall and Full Moon

** Nightfall and Full Moon**

Professor McGonagall made her way up to the Room of Requirement hours later. There had, thankfully, been no other dead student. The shopkeepers all promised to keep an eye open, and the agents had searched the small town.

The students were all either on their way back or had returned early. Gibbs and company were also on their way back. She opened the door and entered. Only Colonel Mann and Agent McGee were inside, though neither paid attention as they typed away.

After a few minutes of fair silence, the door burst open. The blonde witch McGonagall had seen in _The Three Broomsticks_ stormed in. Her robes were wet and her hair had a few dark streaks in it. "ABBY!" she shouted. The voice was familiar. Professor McGonagall was extremely confused.

As Abby popped out of her lab, the blonde woman headed over to Ziva's desk. She suddenly stuck her fingers into her green eyes and pulled something out of them. Her eyes went from green to a dark brown.

"Ziva!" Abby whined, "I told you not to get wet!"

Ziva? That woman couldn't be Officer David, McGonagall thought.

"I did not get wet on purpose, Abby! That poltergeist – whatever his name is – saw me coming in and began throwing water balloons at me!"

"Peeves," McGonagall corrected automatically.

"Yes, him!" Ziva snapped. She took a wet cloth Abby was holding out. She wiped her pale hands on it. They became darker and darker with each wipe. Then she ran the cloth over her face. The pale came off with some resistance, but eventually the face of Ziva David began to emerge from underneath.

Tony, Gibbs, and Fornell entered the room.

"Officer David!" Tony exclaimed. "You don't look bad at all as a blonde!"

Ziva threw her make-up covered rag at her partner. It probably wasn't the best decision, though. Her face still had blotches of white on it.

"What happened to your hair, Zee-vah?"

"Abby put temporary dye in it and straightened it, DiNozzo!" Ziva snarled.

"No, I mean that the color is beginning to run…"

Ziva pulled a lock of hair around in front of her to look at it. Sure enough, bits of it were becoming darker and darker and with it, curlier.

"Ziva, go shower," Gibbs ordered. Ziva took the command with a smile and walked over to a new door in the wall.

Professor McGonagall was in a state of such surprise and confusion she didn't feel like talking. Just a few moments ago, a straight blonde haired, green eyed, and pale witch had stood before her. And in seconds, she'd turned into a curly haired, brown eyed, and dark skinned Muggle. It was mind boggling. She'd only seen the Polyjuice Potion give such a result.

"I told you that you wouldn't recognize Ziva once I was done with her!" Abby said to McGonagall with a wide smile. "How'd I do?"

"Very well," McGonagall admitted.

Abby clapped her hands. "Alright, back to work then!" She skipped off to her lab.

"Abbs!" Gibbs called. She turned towards him and held out her hands. He threw her Tony's backpack filled with evidence. She caught it and resumed her journey.

"McGee, pictures!" Gibbs said shortly as he tossed the junior agent the camera. McGee barely caught it and quickly set to work on downloading the photographs.

"Any trouble back here, Colonel Mann?" Fornell asked as he sat down heavily on his chair.

"No," Colonel Mann responded. She put her elbows on her desk and ran her hands over her face. Her eyes burned from looking at a computer screen so long. "What about the message?"

"There isn't a body to go with it that we've found. Abby's running DNA now," Gibbs answered.

Professor McGonagall sat herself down and listened as the agents began discussing the case. Ziva came out of the showers, once again with dark brown, curly hair and in regular clothes, and joined the conversation.

Abby suddenly ran out of her lab. "Gibbs!" she screamed. "Gibbs! I think I might know how to get the killer's DNA!" Knowing Gibbs would want explanation, she plowed on without paying attention to any responses. "We found Davies with his hands in the water, right? And that could mean that he fought back and got some part of the killer under his nails, but that evidence was washed away. I was looking at his robes and there was _a small dot of blood_! It's too small to work with, though. But," she said loudly as Gibbs made to interrupt her, "if someone's trying to stick your head into a lake and you're on your knees resisting, where are your hands?" She looked around, but plowed on before any response was given, "On the banks! Gibbs, there might still be evidence on the banks of the lake!"

"We already looked, Abby," Tony pointed out.

Abby pulled orange glasses out of her pocket and put them on. "Did you look with these, DiNozzo? Did you? DID YOU?"

"No!"

"HA! Then don't you go mocking me!" Abby pulled the glasses off her face. "Once the sun goes down I can go check the banks!"

"Good work, Abbs!" Gibbs said. "Put a Caf-Pow on my tab."

"Only one? Gibbs, I might have found you a lead!"

"You haven't gotten me one yet!" Gibbs turned the Goth in the direction of her lab and pushed her forward. "Go on, get everything ready."

Tony looked at his watch. "Sun sets in thirty minutes, Boss!"

"Colonel Mann, you'll go down with Abby. I don't want her by herself," Gibbs said.

"Alright," Colonel Mann accepted.

Gibbs looked around at Tony, Ziva, and McGee expectantly.

"Getting more files into the system, Boss!" Tony caught on. He jumped into his chair and flipped open a file. Ziva and McGee were slower to follow.

Professor McGonagall quietly exited the room, happier than she'd been in a while. This whole nightmare might soon end. She rushed off to the staffroom.

Fifteen minutes to sunset, Abby couldn't wait any longer. She had all her gear in her hands, the orange glasses already on her face, and was bouncing on the balls of her feet waiting for Colonel Mann to get up. To her surprise, Gibbs got up as well and grabbed his hat.

"I thought I was going," Colonel Mann said.

"You are," Gibbs answered, "but so am I."

As the three left, the cord coming from the light in Abby's hand got continually longer as she required it to be. It seemed to be growing out of the wall at an alarming speed.

Gibbs, Abby, and Colonel Mann made their way out of the school and down to the lake. The forensic scientist skipped ahead, calling over her shoulder, "Where did you find him?"

Gibbs pointed to the left of where Abby stood and she bounded over and began spraying the banks with a bottle of indicator she'd brought down. She flicked on the light and began looking over every inch of ground, searching for a neon stain.

The large double doors suddenly burst open. Shabby robed Professor Lupin stumbled out of them, twitching and hardly able to remain upright.

Colonel Mann suddenly tensed and threw her gaze up to the darkening sky. "Gibbs, get Abby inside!" she ordered.

"Holly?" Gibbs said suspiciously.

"Trust me!" she snapped at him before running across the lawn. Gibbs watched her, on the fence of doing as she asked.

"Ah ha!" Abby exclaimed. She scooped up some mud and slid it into a bag.

"Abby, come on!" Gibbs finally made up his mind to get moving as Lupin continued twitching.

"Hold on!" Abby requested. She shoved another chunk of earth into a different bag and allowed Gibbs to haul her off just inside the doors. Not wanting to leave Colonel Mann by herself, the two watched and listened intently from just inside the doors.

"Remus!" Colonel Mann shouted as she caught up to him and cut him off, "Did you take your potion?!"

"N-Norris knocked it o-over bef-fore I g-got the chance!" Lupin managed to stutter between painful looking twitches.

Colonel Mann looked horrified and frightened, but she didn't move out of his way. She grabbed Lupin's shoulders and shook him to get his attention once more. "The Willow! Remus, the Willow! Which one is it?"

Lupin unsteadily raised his arm and pointed at a large tree forty feet away.

"Come on!" Colonel Mann tugged on Lupin's wrist, starting him forward. She ran ahead towards the tree. As she got closer, the tree began moving. It hardly deterred her. She continued running her straight line.

Suddenly, a branch whipped down towards the Colonel. She hardly managed to dodge it, but it was too late for her to turn back now. She picked up pace, headed straight towards the trunk of the raging plant. It continued swinging at her, trying desperately to knock her off course. Colonel Mann dove to avoid a particularly large branch, her arms outstretched. Her hands collided with a knot on the trunk and the tree froze. She climbed to her feet without removing her hand from the bulge on the trunk.

"Remus! Come on!" she shouted.

Lupin hurried toward the tree as well and suddenly disappeared into the ground. A horrible howling sound erupted from where Lupin had gone out of sight, but then there was silence on the grounds.

Colonel Mann sighed with relief, and made the mistake of moving her hand with it.

"Holly!" Gibbs yelled. Too late.

A branch swung from behind the blonde woman and hit her, punting her through the air and landing her facedown on the ground.

Colonel Mann found herself unable to move. "_Well this isn't exactly the way I imagined my death…_" she thought.

An unexpected weight fell onto her back and she felt herself roll several times. Something flipped her onto her back and she felt herself being dragged across the grass. More than anything, she felt pain. It pulsed through her body, head to toe.

Colonel Mann came to a stop. Her arms fell to the ground. She looked up and saw Gibbs' livid face. "Jethro!" she chuckled and smiled. The Colonel was feeling rather loopy now, though it was an improvement to the searing pain. "I'm just going to take a quick nap…" She passed out.

"Holly!" Gibbs shook her shoulders, trying to rouse her. "Damn it, Soldier! Wake up!" This all went to waste. The Colonel's eyes remained shut and she continued to be unresponsive. Gibbs pulled her up into his arms and began running across the grounds towards the doors Abby had left open.

In the Entrance Hall Gibbs ran into the four Heads of House, all with their wands drawn.

"Agent Gibbs!" McGonagall exclaimed. "What's happened?"

"I don't _know_ what the hell happened!" Gibbs bellowed, "Get out of my way!" He pushed past them and bounded up the stairs, barely managing to keep the unconscious colonel's head from slamming into stone.

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs burst into NCIS headquarters. "Ducky!" he shouted.

The ME came out of his morgue carrying a large black bag. Abby and Jimmy were right behind him.

"Lay her down, Jethro!" Ducky instructed.

Gibbs did as told. The passed out Colonel was set on her back onto the floor. Ducky immediately set to work. Abby hovered nervously over his shoulder.

"Is she going to be ok, Ducky? What's wrong with her?" Abby said in a rush.

"Abby, go get to work on that mud," Gibbs ordered.

"No!" Abby said firmly. "The killer's taking a break! I've got time! Family is more important!"

"Go get some smelling salts, Abby," Ducky requested.

"You can't wake her up, Ducky! She was slammed in the back so hard she went _airborne_!"

"And I can't help her too much unless I know where exactly she was hit!" Ducky didn't sound at all like his usually calm self. He was short tempered and on edge.

Abby didn't look happy, but she ran off to her lab and returned moments later. She held whatever she'd grabbed in front of the Colonel's nose.

"Oh," Colonel Mann groaned, waking up.

"Colonel!" Ducky said urgently.

"Ducky?" she said groggily. "Let me go back to sleep; leave me alone!" She closed her eyes again.

Ducky grabbed her face and turned it towards him. "Where does it hurt most?"

"Everywhere," the Colonel gasped.

"Give me more than that!" Ducky said exasperatedly. "Upper back? Lower back? Head?"

The Colonel grimaced as another wave of pain surged through her. "Lower," she said finally.

Ducky let go of her face and grabbed her foot and squeezed. "Do you feel that?"

"Yes! Let go!" The extra pressure applied to her body made her cringe.

Ducky did, indeed, let go of her foot. "Morphine, Mr. Palmer," he said shortly. Jimmy got up from where he'd been kneeling on the floor and ran into the morgue.

"Can I sleep now?" Colonel Mann said heavily.

"I'd rather you stay awake!" Ducky responded. Jimmy came back and gave him a bottle of clear liquid and a needle. Ducky stuck the needle into the top of the bottle and filled the tube with it.

"But it _hurts_!" the Colonel complained.

"I know it does, my dear," Ducky tried to speak calmly as he looked over his glasses at the small numbers on the needle. "Jethro, Tony, turn her onto her side, please."

Tony, who had abandoned his desk at Gibbs' entrance, put his hands on the Colonel's shoulders. With his boss, he managed to get Colonel Mann onto her side, though he had to hold her up.

Colonel Mann gritted her teeth, trying hard not to scream in pain. Every single movement felt like someone was taking a sludge hammer to her back.

Ducky handed Jimmy a pair of scissors. "Cut and clean," he ordered.

Jimmy cut a small hole in the back of the Colonel's camouflage and rubbed the exposed skin with an alcohol wipe. The woman couldn't help but hiss in discomfort. "Ready, Doctor!"

Ducky stuck the needle into the woman's back and emptied it. He threw a band-aid over the spot he'd just pulled the needle out of and had Tony and Gibbs lay her flat again. The morphine was having the desired effect. Colonel Mann relaxed a bit and looked slightly better.

Ducky sighed heavily and leaned back on his heels. "Feeling any better?"

"I'd feel a hell of a lot better if you'd let me sleep!"

"Once you tell me what happened," Ducky said, looking at her sternly.

Colonel Mann gave a shallow sigh. "I was trying to – " Her eyes suddenly popped open wide and she tried to push herself up. Gibbs immediately sprang into action and pushed down on her shoulders, effectively stopping any attempt at getting up. "I have to talk to one of the professors!" she wheezed.

"There are four of us here!" Professor McGonagall said.

Gibbs turned his head toward the door. He hadn't noticed the professors following him up.

Colonel Mann turned her head towards them. "Remus – "

"Didn't take his potion?" Snape snarled ,"Yes, we noticed that when we saw him outside from the staffroom!"

"Mrs. Norris knocked it over and spilt it before he could drink it!" Colonel Mann said heatedly in defense of her cousin.

"Then he should have come to me for more!"

"Severus, hush!" McGonagall snapped. "Where is he?" she asked the Colonel.

"Hopefully, the Shrieking Shack."

"You know about that place?"

"Mmmhmm," the Colonel said lazily. She began to nod off. Gibbs gently shook her shoulders. It was enough to make her snap back to being completely awake.

"Agent DiNozzo, kindly escort Mr. Palmer to the hospital wing. Colonel Mann is going to need a bed," Ducky said.

"Oh, no, Ducky!" the Colonel rebutted. "I'll just stay here; I don't want to inconvenience Madam Pomfrey."

"Nonsense!" Ducky exclaimed. "You're going, whether you like it or not. And don't you dare try to fight it!"

"Fine," the Colonel conceded. She sighed and closed her eyes. Her breathing evened. She'd fallen asleep. Ducky allowed her to stay that way.

"I daresay Madam Pomfrey will be able to help her more than I?" Ducky asked the teachers.

"Oh, most definitely!" Professor Flitwick chirped. "Not to say that you can't help or anything – "

"Quite alright, Professor!" Ducky chuckled. He got up off his knees and sat down in Tony's vacated seat. "Alright, Jethro! Come on, full story!"

"There isn't much of one," Gibbs said from the floor. He still sat at the side of Colonel Mann. "She told me to get Abby inside. I did. She talked to Lupin for a second, then she ran over to some stupid tree that started _attacking_ her. She touched the trunk and it froze. Lupin disappeared. She moved her hand, and the tree got her from behind. I dragged her away."

"A tree?" Ziva said disbelievingly.

"Yes, Officer David. A tree!"

"The Whomping Willow," McGonagall supplied. "It guards a secret passageway out of the school."

"And why did Colonel Mann risk her neck trying to get past it?"

"It's full moon," McGonagall said uncertainly. She wasn't sure she wanted to explain further.

Abby suddenly gasped. "_Full moon?_ He's a _werewolf_?"

Damn. She'd caught on.

"You know, if she hadn't almost died, I would be so ridiculously impressed! I mean… I saw a _werewolf_ transfiguration! That's so cool!" Despite her first sentence, Abby still sounded like she was very much amazed.

"Dumbledore would appreciate you keeping quiet about it," Snape said through his teeth. Gibbs wasn't sure if he was angry because Abby had figured it out or if he was angry because he'd love nothing more for Abby to tell everyone in the school.

"Oh, come on! There've got to be werewolves everywhere!" Abby said with a smile.

"No, there aren't," McGonagall stated seriously.

"Well, of course I won't tell anyone!" Abby said with bounce.

"You didn't tell us this, why?" Gibbs asked.

"Because it wasn't relevant! Normally, there's a potion Remus takes before nightfall that allows him to remain in control of himself. He stays in his office," McGonagall replied hotly.

"I want to know everything you don't think is relevant as well as the relevant things, Professor."

"Then I'd be talking about things for the rest of your life," McGonagall snarled.

Saving grace intervened in the form of Madam Pomfrey. She swept into the room and straight over to the sleeping Colonel.

"Holly," Gibbs said in attempt to wake up the blonde. "Holly!" he said more loudly and nudged her with his foot.

Colonel Mann stirred. "Jethro, can't you just this once let me sleep?"

"Holly, you need to go to the hospital wing!"

"Seriously, Jethro. Leave me alone."

"Seriously, Holly. You were clubbed in the back by a tree. Don't you remember?"

Colonel Mann finally opened one of her eyes to glare at Gibbs. Then she opened the other.

"Hi! Welcome back to the world."

"Alright, Colonel," Madam Pomfrey said shortly. "Roll to your left, please."

Colonel Mann didn't do anything for a moment. "You know, Madam Pomfrey, I'd love to. But I can't."

"Heaven's sake!" Madam Pomfrey began muttering to herself about dangerous trees and irresponsible people. She pulled out her wand and twitched it. The stretcher slid itself under Colonel Mann. A second flick from her wand lifted the stretcher into the air. Madam Pomfrey allowed Colonel Mann to say good night before floating her out the door.

"Well, after that thrilling episode…" Jenny left her sentence hanging.

Gibbs looked over at Abby.

"Back to work, Abby!" Abby said, imitating Gibbs' growl. Then, in her regular voice, she said, "Right away, Sir – I mean, right away, Gunny!" She saluted and went off to her lab.

"Madam Pomfrey's rather high stress, don't you think, Palmer?" Tony asked, looking at the door.

"She's got a whole school to look after, Tony," Jimmy defended. Tony twitched his lip at the ME's assistant.

Ducky suddenly jumped out of Tony's chair. "Mr. Palmer! Come along! I've just remembered something we've forgotten to do!" He and Jimmy hurried into the morgue.

"Well, Professors, unless you plan on just standing there the rest of the night, I'd recommend going elsewhere," Gibbs suggested as he headed towards the stairs.

"Jethro…" Jenny growled, quick to get on his heels. "What are you doing? Hey! Away from my office!"

The four Heads of Houses exchanged looks before leaving.

"The Muggles _are_ weird," Professor Sprout admitted.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Strange Things on Halloween

Full moons and werewolves and trees, oh my! Perhaps I got a bit carried away in this chapter? I dunno. Whatever, you all will review anyway, right? I love those things a lot, you know...

Oh, and I'm not a druggie or a doctor, so I probably didn't do the whole morphine thing right... please don't hurt my feelings. Let's pretend that's how we do it.

Good news! I got my computer fixed! YAY!!! Ok, now time for homework. Blech.


	28. Strange Things on Halloween

**Strange Things on Halloween**

Time passed at an irritatingly slow pace. The blood Abby had found on the banks had been Davies'. Ducky had figured out that Davies' blood had been drawn out of him with a needle. But the team still wasn't any closer to solving their puzzle.

The message written in Hogsmeade had indeed been written in Madley's blood. Though that nor the fact that it happened in Hogsemeade helped. The team had already suspected an older student. There wasn't a first or second year that could possibly have overpowered McDonald or Davies.

Mr. and Mrs. Davies weren't helpful at all. They hardly knew anything about magic or Hogwarts. And, apparently, their son spent most of his time in his room when he came home over the holidays.

It took a few more days, but all the school personnel's files were now in a system. It made things easier, but still didn't give any clues as to who the killer was.

Colonel Mann was still being pinned to a bed in the hospital wing by Madame Pomfrey. She was doing much better, but couldn't hide the fact that it still hurt to walk well enough to be released.

In basic terms, the team had nothing. No evidence, no clues, and they were one investigator down.

Tony spun in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. "Well, if we want to try to narrow things down a bit, I suggest we look more closely at the Muggle-borns. They grew up without magic and know what sort of things can be done without it. Maybe they want to prove Muggle force to everyone." This was the beginning of a conversation that had taken place countless times, and it always went in a big loop.

"If we are talking blood we should look at the half-bloods," Ziva argued. "They have grown up seeing the 'best of both worlds.' They know the difference between the two and have chosen the one they thought to be more interesting."

"But purebloods have been around people saying Muggles are stupid all their lives. They might have taken Muggle-studies and seen differently. And then they wanted to show everyone that magic can't defend you against everything," McGee said.

Not to leave out his own suspicions, Fornell spoke up. "There are still a few staff members that could have done it," he stated. "They could easily over power any student. What student is going to suspect their teacher of trying to kill their classmates?"

Gibbs ran a hand over his face. There was logic and reasoning for every argument, making them all null and void. It didn't narrow anything down. He was frustrated beyond expression. A rape victim, three murdered students, and a fifth victim that was supposed to have both things happen to her. And there was nothing Gibbs could do to make the problem go away for certain.

Abby walked out of her lab. She had become very mellow. Coffee wasn't doing its job for her anymore. "I just looked over every victim's robes again. Nothing," she sighed and sat down, leaning against Gibbs' desk and looking at the blank plasma screen.

The team hadn't left the room all day. Despite it being lunch time, they weren't hungry.

Professor McGonagall walked into the room, breaking the silence that had settled. "Do you plan on eating?" she asked, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. For the past two days every time she'd walked into the Room of Requirement, the agents had just been sitting at their desks. Not talking, not typing. Just sitting and staring.

Gibbs pulled himself out of his chair. "Ziva, - "

"Get the Director," Ziva finished his sentence and headed towards the stairs.

"DiNozzo, - "

"Get Ducky. On it, Boss!"

"McGee, what's the date?" Abby asked slowly from her spot on the floor.

"Uh… 31st. "

"Of October?" Abby managed to sum up enough energy to pop up off the floor and squeal, "That means it's _Halloween!_"

"Is it?" Tony said dismally, coming back to the bull pen with Ducky in tow. "Strange things always happen on Halloween, Abby. This is not good…"

"Halloween again?" Ziva asked as she came down the stairs after Jenny. "That foolish holiday? It is here, too?"

"Oh, come on!" Abby said good naturedly. "Brighten up! I'm sure Halloween's amazing here! Isn't it, Professor?" She turned towards McGonagall.

"Do you remember last Halloween, Abby? General Custer got shot and had a dead skeleton in his living room that was involved in a plot to kidnap his princess?" Tony snapped.

McGonagall didn't bother asking. She was positive he was referring to another case, which had likely been solved. Hearing about all the solved cases made Professor McGonagall feel as if the team just wasn't trying hard enough to solve the Hogwarts case. It was infuriating.

"Well it's not like there's going to be a kidnapping here, Tony. Where would they go?" Abby pointed out. Knowing that the day was her favorite holiday had greatly improved her spirits.

"I do not think kidnapping is what we need to worry about, Abby," Ziva said quietly as she passed the scientist on the way toward the door so McGonagall wouldn't hear.

"Stop being such a downer, Ziva!" Abby called after her.

Gibbs, as opposed to Abby, had slipped into a worse mood at the news that it was Halloween. Tony was right. They should be on their guard. Such a night was perfect for a horrifying event.

Abby gasped in delight as they entered the Great Hall. Jack-o-lanterns so big Abby could sit in them decorated the hall. "Wow!"

"This isn't even half of it!" one of the Weasley twins said, passing her and entering the hall.

"Yeah! Just wait until dinner!" the other said.

"I'm sure you'll love it!" They both grinned and skipped off to their table.

"There's more?" Abby's eyes popped. "Gibbs!" she tugged on his sleeve, "Gibbs, there's _more_!"

"Come on, Abby. To the table," Gibbs coaxed.

Abby stroked the jack-o-lanterns as she passed them. "I want pictures with them later!"

Professor McGonagall sighed inwardly as the NCIS team took their seats. Miss Sciuto had opted to suddenly change the arrangement and sit next to the professor. And then to add onto that, Gibbs sat next to her.

"Is this what you all do every year?" Abby asked McGonagall.

"More or less," the teacher said shortly.

"Wow! I thought the party I went to last year had good decorations! How'd you get the pumpkins to be so big? Some sort of spell?" It was as if Abby had just drank a gallon of Caf-Pow. Her energy was beyond what it had been the entirety of her stay at Hogwarts.

"I wouldn't know," McGonagall admitted, "Hagrid grew them."

"Hagrid? The big guy out on the grounds? He seems pretty cool" Abby turned towards Gibbs. "Gibbs, can I please go meet him? Please?"

"Abby, he's got enough to do."

"I can help him!"

"Abby, no!"

Abby pouted for a moment before regaining her energy. "What happens at dinner?" she asked Professor McGonagall, who had thought it safe to begin eating.

After swallowing, McGonagall answered, "Halloween feast. There are a few more decorations and then the ghosts usually do something."

"_Ghosts?_ There's more than just Professor Binns? I haven't seen any of them! How many are there? Are they nice?"

Professor McGonagall was beginning to feel overwhelmed by the amount of questions being thrown at her. "Yes, there are several ghosts here at Hogwarts. However, they've elected to keep themselves hidden this year."

"Why? We'd love to see them! Real ghosts! Wow! My Uncle Horace says there used to be a family of them up in his attic. He was kind of crazy, though. We never really believed him. But do you think that there really were ghosts? I mean… wow!"

Gibbs threw something sticky looking onto Abby's plate. "Take a breath, Abbs! Eat!"

Abby took a forkful of whatever Gibbs had put on her plate. It took so long for her to chew and get down that she wasn't able to talk for a whole two minutes.

"What else hides in the castle that's been staying out of our way? I totally want to see them!"

McGonagall barely managed to keep from rolling her eyes. "There's not much else, really. Just the ghosts."

"How many of them are there?"

"I'm not quite sure. I know all of them, of course, but I don't keep track of how many there are," the Professor responded.

"They _talk_? Like… you can hold a conversation with them? That's so cool! I always thought of ghosts as the see-through people that are just there to be creepy… or… or point you in a direction or possess you or something. I never really think of them as _talking_!"

"Abby, eat!" Gibbs reminded again. He managed to keep her eating for the next seven minutes before she finally said she wasn't hungry anymore, causing Professor McGonagall to sigh again.

"So you teach Transfiguration, right? That's obviously turning one thing into another, yeah? What's some really cool stuff?" Abby was talking a bit slower now that she had a stomach full of food.

"There are countless 'cool' things Transfiguration can do, Miss Sciuto," McGonagall responded, putting down her fork and knife. Now that Abby was done eating it was highly unlikely that she'd have any chance to before being forced to answer another question.

"Well, yeah. But if you wanted to _really_ impress someone…"

"I don't know."

"What do you show kids in their first class?"

"Whatever comes to my mind first. Usually changing my desk into an animal."

Abby's eyes widened. "You can do that? Change something inanimate into something alive?"

"Yes… Students don't begin working on that for quite some time, but it's quite possible."

"Can I come sit in on a class?" Abby pleaded.

"Abby!" Gibbs growled lowly.

"What?"

Gibbs simply looked her straight in the eye. Abby knew she was defeated and leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's not like anything's going to happen in the middle of a class, Gibbs," Abby whined.

"I don't want you going around without someone else, Abby!" Gibbs told her.

"Professor McGonagall would be there," Abby argued.

"Abby, she's already got a class to watch over."

"You know what, Gibbs?" Abby said, "I don't know whether I'll give you're your birthday present or not anymore! You're being way too mean."

"I don't want anything, Abby," Gibbs responded.

"You don't _think_ you want anything!" Abby was suddenly done with pouting. She had a mischievous smile on her face and was ready to tease.

"I know I don't want anything."

"Sometimes other people know you better than you know yourself, Gibbs! I know you'll like it!"

"I thought you weren't giving me anything anymore?"

"I said I was considering not giving you a present," Abby corrected.

"Tony! Move your elbow!"

"It's not in your way, Ziva!"

"Yes it is! We agreed on the line, and your elbow is crossing it!"

Professor McGonagall couldn't help it. She leaned forward to look down the table. Officer David had her hand on the table, pointing out where the 'line' was. Agent DiNozzo pushed his elbow closer to it.

"Tony, I am warning you!"

Tony defiantly put his elbow a whole three inches across the line.

Ziva gasped in outrage. She shifted her weight to one side and put her hand on her hip for a moment before pointing her arm under the table. "Permission to shoot?" she asked maliciously, looking at Gibbs.

"Whoah! Ziva! That's a little extreme!" Tony said nervously. "Let's point that somewhere else!"

"Not in front of so many witnesses, Ziva," Jenny said mindlessly as she looked at a copy of the _Daily Prophet_.

Ziva glared, but holstered the gun she'd been pointing at her partner under the table. Tony wisely decided to stay on his side of the line from then on.

"Professor McGonagall," Jenny called down the line, laying the paper down on the table. "What's the deal with Sirius Black?"

McGonagall's demeanor immediately changed. She'd gone from being irritated with Abby and confused by Tony and Ziva to stiff and blank. "He's a wanted wizard," she said simply. "The Ministry will handle it. There isn't a need for you to worry."

Gibbs had a feeling there was a reason they needed to be worried, but figured he had his own suspect to find.

* * *

Abby spent the time between lunch and dinner in sky high spirits. Gibbs had managed to talk her out of dressing up, but that hardly brought her down. She was the first up and to the door when they were called down for dinner.

The Great Hall looked fantastic. The jack-o-lanterns shone brightly, when there weren't bats flying in front of them.

Abby looked around in awe. "I _love_ bats!" she squealed. Black, winged creatures were flying everywhere.

Tony was far more interested in the food than the bats. Plates were piled high with every kind of food a person could imagine.

Gibbs was more surprised by the decorations than anything. But he quickly pushed that out of the way to put up his guard. He had a gut feeling and those, unfortunately, usually seemed to prove themselves right.

The seating arrangement was back to normal. Jenny moved faster to her seat than she had at lunch. Now she didn't only have to have Gibbs to worry about, but Abby, who couldn't contain her questions.

"Sorry about Abby," Jenny said to McGonagall as they all took their seats. "She gets a bit excited sometimes…"

"I noticed." Professor McGonagall seemed to absorb some of the energy rolling off her students and was in a much better mood than earlier. "This is her holiday, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah."

Fifteen minutes into the feast, Colonel Mann walked through the doors, closely followed by Madame Pomfrey. Considering the special event, she'd traded her camouflage for a dress uniform made up of a deep green skirt and jacket adorned with various medals. However, the heels that normally went with the outfit had been traded for flats, which were far easier and safer to walk in when one had an injured back. She strode up to the staff table and sat down with her fellows.

"You escaped!" Tony exclaimed.

"No, I argued, DiNozzo," Colonel Mann said without looking at him and piling food onto her plate.

"And you won? Madam Pomfrey doesn't seem like one to forfeit."

"She's not," the Colonel assured, "but she's got her weak spots, just like everyone else."

Tony decided not to push the matter further. He traded another question for a mouthful of chicken.

"Lavender is about ready to go home. You should call her parents tonight," Colonel Mann suggested to Gibbs.

"How is she?" Jenny asked concernedly.

Colonel Mann grimaced. "She's ready to be out of here. I can tell you more later."

"What about Madley?" Ziva paused eating to question.

"She's doing just fine. Wanted to come to the feast, actually. I tried to tell her why she couldn't. Then Madam Pomfrey gave her a potion and she 'mysteriously' fell asleep!"

"Playing dirty, are we, Colonel?" Fornell queried.

"You'd have done the same, Tobias! She leaves, she's done for."

Professor McGonagall decided that now was a good a time as ever to stop paying attention to that conversation and strike one up with the headmaster.

A loud cry floated through the air and reached the ears of the agents, "PENELOPE! Oh my _God_!"

Gibbs' eyes zeroed in on the source of the noise. A girl with long, curly hair appeared to be choking. Or it looked that way until she began coughing up blood.

"Get the kids out of here!" Gibbs snapped as he leapt out of his chair. Ducky and Madam Pomfrey did the same. All three ran towards the girl.

Dumbledore stood up and raised his wand. It issued a loud bang, bringing silence to the hall. "Return to your dormitories, immediately!" he ordered.

Students rushed the door, as if Penelope was contagious.

The curly haired girl had now fallen to the floor and was grasping her throat, still coughing, blood still running down her chin.

"Onto your hands! Flip onto your hands!" Ducky told her. With the help of Madam Pomfrey, he managed to get the girl onto all fours. Blood from her mouth spilled onto the floor and she put a hand to her stomach.

"What's happened, dear?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she tried various spells.

Unable to talk and getting weaker, Penelope began dragging her hand through the puddle of her blood and unsteadily wrote, _"I'm the sixth…"_ She gave another almighty cough, bringing up more crimson liquid from within her.

"You! You, come here!" Madam Pomfrey demanded, pointing at Tony, "Go run up to my office and grab the small vial of thick, blue liquid from the third shelf on the right!"

"Small, thick, blue, third, right! Got it!" Tony said as he sprinted out of the hall.

"What's wrong with her?" Professor Flitwick squeaked in panic. His student, again.

Gibbs lowered himself to eye level with Penelope. "Did someone put something in your drink?"

Penelope shook her head while pointing at her eye.

"Not that you saw?" Gibbs guessed.

Penelope nodded and coughed again. She couldn't hold herself up anymore. Her elbows gave out, and she fell to the blood stained floor.

"Timothy!" Ducky called, "Hold her up! That's it!"

Ziva walked around the back of Penelope and grabbed her hair, pulling it out of the way of her face. She exchanged a worried glance with McGee, who was holding the girl up by her shoulders.

"Heaven's sake! Poppy, what's going on?" Professor Sprout asked.

"If I knew I'd have fixed it by now, Pomona!" Pomfrey snapped, waving her wand again, trying something different.

Penelope passed out.

"No! Not good!" Ducky shouted. "Jethro, get a glass of water, quickly!"

Knowing any glass at Penelope's table was evidence, Gibbs ran to the front of the room and grabbed a drink off the staff table.

Ziva let go of Penelope's hair and lifted her shirt enough to expose the bandages around her waist. She pulled off the outermost layer, which was still clean, and handed it to Ducky. He poured the cold water onto it and put it to Penelope's forehead. She remained unconscious.

Tony burst back into the Great Hall. "I got it!" he declared.

He handed to potion to Madam Pomfrey, who quickly pulled the top off. With a wave of her wand, the potion disappeared. "Straight to her stomach…" she muttered to herself.

Penelope still didn't wake, and blood was still dribbling out from between her pale lips.

Looking downcast, Ducky put two fingers to the girl's throat, then looked at his watch. "Time of death," he said solemnly, "7:23 pm."

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - High Stress

The Hogwarts Killer has resumed his game. What are we to do? Gibbs!!!!!

I would love to stay here and write a very, very long note for you all, but there's a huge stack of papers calling my name. They say that if I don't get to them I'll flunk out of school. It's a rather terrifying threat! I have to go attend to that evil known as homework. :P

I love reviews more than CHOCOLATE! :D


	29. High Stress

Apologies if you got two emails saying that chapter 29 was up. The first time I uploaded I put in the wrong document.

* * *

**High Stress**

Penelope Clearwater, victim number six, was Muggle-born. Seeing as the most likely explanation of her death was poison, Gibbs did _not_ want to wait for the parents to start the autopsy. Clearwater had been the first to show signs, but it didn't mean she was the only one with a deadly concoction running through her body.

It had taken a lot of smooth talking and convincing from Jenny to get the staff to leave the Great Hall and allow NCIS to do their jobs. Even then, not all of them left until Dumbledore announced that he would personally go fetch Mr. and Mrs. Clearwater and left that the entirety of the staff had cleared out of the massive room.

The team was in overdrive. Ziva took pictures like there was no tomorrow. Tony made record speed on sketches, and Abby, McGee, Gibbs, Fornell, and Colonel Mann were bagging and tagging more than had ever been bagged and tagged before. Every goblet in the room was swabbed. Every piece of food shoved into a plastic bag. And once all that was done, every plate and glass would be dusted for prints. If there were two sets on one item, questioning would need to be done.

"Alright, Mr. Palmer!" Ducky said heavily, "Come along, we must get the external exam done before this poor girl's parents arrive!" Ducky and his assistant lifted Penelope into a body bag, and the body bag onto a stretcher. Then, with an armed Director as their escort, left the hall.

With days full of work ahead of her, Abby placed as many bags as she could into a back-pack and was accompanied back to headquarters by Ziva to start on things.

Gibbs looked around. They had only made it through one table. The investigators had a very long night ahead of them.

* * *

Things in the staffroom weren't any better than things in the Great Hall. Filius Flitwick had been reduced to tears by the second death of someone in his house. The chairs that were normally scattered around the room had all been put into a circle in the center of the room to allow better conversation circumstances.

"This is just outrageous! Pure outrageous!" Pomona Sprout declared. "That was right under our noses! How did we not see?"

"We haven't seen anything that's happened!" Madam Hooch was quick to defend.

"But this was in the Great Hall during the Halloween feast, for crying out loud!"

"What could have caused such a thing to happen, though?" McGonagall asked, "She coughed up so much blood…" Flitwick let out a loud sob at the statement.

"There are several potions that could have caused that to happen," Snape said smoothly, "but why suddenly use a wizard's way to kill?"

"Oh, don't you start investigating, Severus!"

"You were just doing so a moment ago, Minerva!" Snape retorted.

"Don't start fighting now. It'll only make things worse," Lupin sighed. He was so far down in his chair only his neck was leaned against the back.

"I d-don't understand! How could a _s-student_ be so cruel to another?" Flitwick gasped between sobs.

"If this doesn't stop, we'll be in exactly the same situation as last year!" Sprout said, clearly frustrated.

"We already have a threat of closing Hogwarts over our heads," McGonagall admitted. This was true, though the threat had only just been made the day previously.

"No!" several of the staff members exclaimed.

"Albus says he'll be able to keep it just a threat as long as he possibly can…"

"And how does he plan on doing that?" Sprout huffed.

"He said I'd rather not know the reason he's going to hand to Fudge."

"Because it would upset you? Or frighten you?" Snape asked.

"I don't know. I just hope that this will end soon. This culprit is moving much faster than the Heir of Slytherin. If it takes all year to catch him…"

"We'll have no students left to teach," Sprout finished the thought.

"Oh, heavens!" Madam Hooch said, looking out the window. "Dumbledore's back already!"

"With the Clearwaters?" McGonagall asked.

"Yes."

Professor McGonagall pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and dabbed her eyes before leaving to warn the agents.

* * *

"That's two tables down!" Tony said encouragingly.

"Shut up, DiNozzo!" Ziva snapped irritably.

"Is it someone's time of the month?"

Ziva threw a shoe left behind by someone at her coworker.

"Say no more!" Tony said sourly, rubbing his thigh.

The doors opened just enough for Jenny to squeeze through. She shut them behind herself. "Gibbs! They're here!"

Gibbs finished writing on a bag, threw it at McGee, and then headed towards the door.

A woman that had the same curly hair as Penelope and a man with the same eyes stood in the hall with Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall. Dumbledore led the way up to his office, let everyone in, and then closed the door.

"Is Penelope really dead?" Mrs. Clearwater suddenly choked.

"Yes," Gibbs said quietly.

Mrs. Clearwater covered her face with her hands and leaned forward, now past talking.

"We were told she'd be _safe_ here!" Mr. Clearwater raged, turning to glare at Dumbledore.

"I can offer you no explanation, Mr. Clearwater," Dumbledore admitted.

"Penelope was the sixth victim of a serial killer that's come to light," Jenny told the couple.

"Serial killer?" Mr. Clearwater's stance changed.

"Yes."

"She never told us about any serial killers!"

"It only started about three weeks ago," Jenny said.

"But why wouldn't she tell us? She sent us letters every week!"

"I don't know, Mr. Clearwater."

"Where's the Head of her House? What's his name? Flitwick?" Mr. Clearwater asked Dumbledore and his deputy.

"Professor Flitwick sends his deepest apologies," McGonagall assured. "But he's not feeling well at all right now."

"I don't give a damn! Get him over here!"

"Mr. Clearwater, please," Jenny called his attention, "Did Penelope say anything about any enemies at school? Can you think of anyone who may have done this?"

"No!"

"P-Percy Weasley!" Mrs. Clearwater took several deep breaths and straightened. "She and him were dating for a while. She ended it about a month ago, said he wasn't happy at all."

"Did he threaten her at all?" Gibbs masked the eagerness in his voice at the possibility of a lead.

"No," Mrs. Clearwater admitted, "But she did say that he hadn't spoken to her since. Like I said, he was very upset."

"Do you know why she and he broke up?" Jenny pushed the matter further, hoping just as much as Gibbs for a legitimate lead.

"Penelope said he was getting too self absorbed. He was focusing on his coming career, and not much else. She was tired of being ignored."

"Did you know Percy well?" McGonagall asked. She, unlike Gibbs and Jenny, was hiding rage. Percy Weasley was an idiot, sure, but he was her Gryffindor, and she knew him well enough to know he wouldn't dare kill anyone.

Mrs. Clearwater shook her head. "We only knew what Penelope told us."

"Then why do you think Percy might have done it?" Gibbs questioned.

"He's the only person I can think of that had anything against Penny. She loved talking about Hogwarts. She told us about everyone she knew."

"But she never said anything about an enemy," Mr. Clearwater said firmly. "Penelope didn't make them very often."

Gibbs sighed inwardly. Their only lead was the Head Boy of the school that was focused on his career. Things didn't look good.

His phone rang. He excused himself and went just outside the office door. "Duck?"

"Whenever you're ready," Ducky said.

Gibbs hung up, walked back into the room, and nodded at Jenny.

"Would you like to see Penelope once more?" Jenny gently offered.

The Clearwaters nodded and allowed themselves to be led through the many hallways of Hogwarts until finally reaching the door to the Room of Requirement. Gibbs showed them to the morgue where their daughter lay on a cold slab. He waited outside with everyone else.

"Abby has started looking for the poison," Ziva informed as she came out of the lab. "I was just dropping off more evidence," she explained before heading out the door again, back down to the Great Hall.

"Is that what you think it is, then? Poison?" McGonagall queried.

"Yes," Ducky said from the bull pen. "She had no bruises, no cuts, and no puncture wounds from a needle. It had to have been something she ingested. You should get her friends in here, Jethro. Knowing how long the poison had been in her system will help Abby narrow things down."

"Once the Clearwaters have gone," Gibbs said. He looked through the window of the morgue doors. Mrs. Clearwater was crying once again, and her husband was hugging her to him, tears sliding down his own cheeks.

"If you're going to punch a wall again, fix the hole you made first," Jenny said blankly.

"It doesn't fit," Gibbs said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Jenny asked.

"It just doesn't fit! The pattern was half, pure, Muggle. Now it's suddenly turned to half, Muggle. It's not right!"

"We don't know that there was a pattern to begin with, Jethro!"

"There's always a pattern!" Gibbs huffed. "_Something_ isn't right!" He stomped off to the lab.

Ducky sighed. "One of those gut feelings, again."

"I hope his gut's wrong," Jenny said, sitting down at Ziva's desk.

"We don't even know what his gut's telling him this time."

"You don't," Jenny told Ducky, raising an eyebrow at him. "You've apparently forgotten how to speak Gibbs."

Ducky smiled. "Well, it's a very complicated language, Director!"

Jenny grinned back briefly. "Jethro doesn't think that it's the same person."

"You… you don't mean _two killers_?" McGonagall gasped.

"If Gibbs is right – "

"Which, unfortunately, he usually is, - "

"Then yes," Jenny said heavily. "There are."

"Which doubles our workload," Ducky sighed.

"What makes you think that there are two culprits?" Dumbledore questioned, sounding saddened, but fairly calm.

Ducky leaned forward on Tony's desk and folded his hands. "As Jethro said, there's the lack of pattern. Secondly, I can't think of a poison that would cause a girl to cough up so much blood in such a quick amount of time."

"We don't know how long the poison had been in her, though!" Jenny pointed out.

Ducky looked thoughtful for a moment. "The other day," he said to the teachers, "we went through a potions class. What kinds of things do the children do in that class?"

"The students learn about items that have magical properties and how to properly use them in making potions," Dumbledore patiently explained.

"And what can these potions do?" Ducky continued inquiring.

"You can find a potion to do most anything."

"Include poison someone?"

"Yes, unfortunately."

"Elaborating on my first point of breaking pattern," Ducky said, "why use a method to kill that is used in both worlds? Thus far, there have only been our methods used. Shooting, stabbing, drowning, and who knows what was supposed to be in store for Miss Madley. Also, poisoning is a hands-off method, usually used by women as opposed to men, who seem to prefer hands-on killing."

Jenny took it in. Ducky had a valid point.

Gibbs came out of Abby's, looking unhappier than he had before. He slammed himself down into his chair. "Nothing yet. Are the Clearwaters gone?"

"No," Ducky answered, "but this isn't exactly something one can rush, Jethro!"

Gibbs stood up and began heading towards the door. "If they're not done in five minutes, get them out!" The door slammed shut before Ducky could argue.

Professor McGonagall hissed in displeasure.

"Minerva," Dumbledore cautioned.

"I don't care, Albus! I'm tired of it! _That_ is what you've been making me put up with the past three weeks!" McGonagall seemed to burst at the seams. Her lips went so thin they almost disappeared, and her eyes blazed as she glared at her boss.

Jenny and Ducky glanced at each other across the bull pen.

"This is something we shall discuss later," Dumbledore came back with.

"That's what you've said every time I've brought it up! I – "

"Enough!" Dumbledore said forcefully. Anger flashed briefly behind his half-moon spectacles.

Professor McGonagall huffed and crossed her arms, but didn't say anything more of the matter.

"I know it's not as good as the real thing," Jenny began, "but I apologize on Gibbs' behalf. He's not very good with people once they get into and beyond the teenage years."

McGonagall scoffed. "He does well with children, then?"

"Oh, you have no idea," Jenny said seriously.

Ducky looked at his watch and then heaved himself out of his chair. "I do hate walking in on moments like these," he sighed. The man straightened his lab coat and walked into his morgue to convince the grieving parents they had to leave their daughter's side.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next Chapter - Poison

You know... I had a really long author's not typed out, but I decided to erase it. Why? Because it took away the mystery of things! So i'm just going to skip straight to asking you to review! :D


	30. Poison

**Poison**

Professor McGonagall sat on a seat against the wall of the NCIS headquarters, thoroughly unhappy. Dumbledore had left and had her stay and keep him posted on what was going on. She felt frustrated and extremely uncomfortable. The latter because of the fact that behind the doors just a few feet away, mild-mannered Dr. Mallard was cutting into one of her students.

Speak of the devil and he shall come, McGonagall thought. Ducky came out of his morgue, clad in blue, blood covered scrubs and peeling off red stained gloves.

"Abby! Abby!" He hurried off into the lab. A moment later he came back out of it followed by the forensic scientist. Yet another moment later, both of them were out in the bull pen.

"No!" Abby whined, "They're all still in the Great Hall!"

"I'll go ahead and call Gibbs," Ducky volunteered. He pulled out his phone and opened it.

"Ducky, I can't think of anything that would cause that amount of damage in that short of time!" Abby said worriedly.

"Time is no longer relevant!" Ducky said as he waited for Gibbs to pick up on the other line. "Jethro! … Yes, I know I'm calling early. In truth, I've hardly started. …Why? Because there's _nothing_ I can do! I might as well have already finished… Her organs have completely dissolved!... I'm most definitely serious! There isn't anything for me to work with! …Alright. Do try to hurry." Ducky flipped his phone shut.

"I'll just go get some samples…" Abby's sentence trailed off as she ducked back into the morgue.

"Her organs _dissolved_?" Professor McGonagall said disgustedly.

"I'm afraid so," Ducky said absentmindedly. "Time doesn't matter. There's nothing in our world that would do that…"

Tony stumbled into the room, completely out of breath. "Ducky!" he wheezed, "Brought more stuff for Abby! Ah! Professor! Another person I needed to see!" He took a moment to regain his breath and tried to pretend that McGonagall didn't look like she was about to breathe fire. "If I were to try to find Clearwater's friends, who would I be looking for?"

Tony was given directions to find Flitwick, which displeased him. He had been told to move everywhere as fast as he possibly could. The staffroom was on the other side of the school, and if Professor Flitwick wasn't there, Tony would have to find his office. From there, he'd have to go to get Clearwater's friends. Tony was certain the castle would be the death of him. He ran out of the room with an unhappy look on his face.

Ducky and Abby returned to their respective places of work, both very concerned about the things going on.

Gibbs, Fornell, Ziva, McGee, and Colonel Mann came into the room, all with several bags on their backs. The Colonel quickly put hers down. She took off her flats, walked over to her desk, and lay down behind it. Gibbs picked up her forgotten bags and carried them to the lab. McGee set to work getting pictures from the camera onto his computer.

"Where's DiNozzo with the friends?" Fornell asked irritably, falling back into his chair.

"Depending on where he had to go, he might've passed out. Gibbs told him to run, remember?" Colonel Mann's voice said from the floor behind her desk.

"Comfortable, Colonel?"

"No, actually, I'm not, Tobias. Note to self: listen to the nurse when she tells you not to carry anything."

"Didn't Madam Pomfrey want you to go back to the hospital wing after the feast?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Shhh! I'm hiding!"

The door swung open and a red-faced Tony came through it, followed by a girl of Asian decent and a girl with extremely thin blonde hair. They too looked out of breath, but not anywhere near as much as Tony.

"Got the friends!" he gasped. He made it over to his desk with difficulty and collapsed. "Ziva, you take it."

Ziva flicked Tony's ear as she passed his desk on the way to the two girls. "You are Miss Clearwater's friends, then?"

"Yes," the Asian girl said. "I'm Amaya Chang. This is Maggie Clement."

"How's Penelope? Is she alright?" Maggie said, worry more than laced in her voice.

"No," Ziva said honestly. She blankly added, "She is dead."

"NO!" Maggie screamed and began to cry.

Professor McGonagall glared at the back of Ziva's head for being so cold.

Amaya Chang looked saddened, but had a better control of her emotions than her friend, who was now leaning on her for support. "She was one of _his_ victims, wasn't she? How'd he do it this time?"

"We believe she was poisoned," Ziva answered. "Had she complained at all about anything?" she asked as she led them over to an interrogation room.

Amaya cursed under her breath and looked very upset with herself. "She was complaining about her stomach earlier. I tried to get her to go see Madam Pomfrey, but she said it was just 'normal girl pains'. So we left her alone."

Ziva closed the door to the room and sat down at the table, indicating Amaya and Maggie should do the same.

"We should have made her go!" Maggie wailed as she took her seat.

"When did she begin complaining?" Ziva queried.

"A bit after lunch, I think," Amaya supplied.

"It was," Maggie said with a great sniff. "We were in Transfiguration."

"Can you think of anyone that would want Penelope dead?" Ziva kept her straight face on, which she could tell was irritating Maggie Clement.

"No!" Amaya responded immediately.

"How can you ask that?" Maggie snapped, clearly offended. "Penny is one of the nicest people I've ever met!"

"Was," Ziva harshly corrected. "I ask because we spoke to Mr. and Mrs. Clearwater earlier. They expressed their concern about a boy named Percy Weasley."

"Oh, him!" Amaya wrinkled her nose. "He's a git, for sure. But he wouldn't risk his oh so important career. Penelope gave him a choice. More attention to her or his career. He chose career. He wouldn't risk it to get revenge."

"Are you sure there is no one else?" Ziva asked.

"Yes!" Maggie said exasperatedly. "Do you want to know something else? Or can we go tell the rest of Ravenclaw that she's _dead_?"

Ziva didn't say anything for a moment, just stared Maggie right in the eye. "I will bring you back to your common room." She got up and led the way out. On the way to the door, she summed up the interview in Spanish for Tony.

"Got it!" Tony said, his head on his arms.

Ziva left with Amaya and Maggie in tow.

The lab doors slid open and Gibbs came out, looking angrier than he'd been in days.

"Girl started feeling sick after lunch, Boss!" Tony said without raising his head. "Friends say the Weasley kid wouldn't have done it. No other possible enemies." He lifted his head up. "Why is it that every victim has either no enemies or the entire school as enemies?"

Gibbs walked over to Tony's desk and leaned on it, only a foot away from Tony's face.

"I should be working on figuring out who our enemy is," Tony guessed.

Gibbs nodded and went over to his own desk.

"You know," Fornell said thoughtfully, "this kid's good. He even got his bloody message in this time."

Gibbs looked over at the FBI agent. "He didn't write it, Tobias!" he growled, "It was her death note!"

"It could be argued that the other messages are death notes, too. Admittedly, they aren't quite as disturbing as someone writing their own…"

Abby skipped out of her lab and over to Gibb's desk, a small Erwin Meyer flask filled with what looked like water in her hand. "Do you know what this is?" she asked.

"Abbs," Gibbs said tiredly.

"This is what killed Penelope Clearwater!" Abby grinned. "I was able to filter out her blood and Madam Pomfrey's blue potion from the sample Ducky gave me, and this is what was left!"

"How do you know it's not just water, Abby?" Tony said skeptically.

Abby walked over to Tony's desk and picked up a piece of paper. "Does water do this, Tony?" She poured a small drop of liquid onto the paper. Immediately, it began dissolving away.

"That was the bill for my apartment…" Tony said in shock.

McGonagall got up out of her seat and walked towards the Goth. "May I?" she asked, holding out her hand for the flask.

"Sure!" Abby answered joyfully. "Just don't drink or spill it. We'd have a slight problem, then!"

The teacher looked at the substance carefully from every angle, even sniffing it at one point. She gave the flask back to Abby.

"What if it's just acid, Abby?" McGee suggested.

"It's not," McGonagall stated clearly. "That's definitely a poison. I just don't know what one."

McGee looked confused. Abby sniffed the flask herself. "I don't smell anything," she argued. "And I already looked at it in every way possible. What am I missing, Professor?"

"A keener nose and knowledge of potions, Miss Sciuto."

"It's a potion?" Abby squealed.

"Yes. You'll have to go see Severus Snape to identify it."

"Are you sure?" Gibbs inquired.

"Yes, I'm sure!" McGonagall snapped irritably. "I know water from potions, Agent Gibbs!"

"Well then it's off to see Snape!" Realization dawned on Abby's face. "I get to see the dungeons after all! Who's going to take me?"

Gibbs grabbed his badge and gun and headed for the door.

"By the way, McGee," Abby said as she followed Gibbs, "I'm highly offended that you suggested it be acid. That's the first thing I tested it for! Know what I got on the pH test?" McGee didn't answer. "I got _nothing_! It didn't register _at all_!"

Gibbs and Abby spent an hour and a half trying to find Snape. It seemed that everywhere they went, he had just left. Frustrated and tired, the pair made their way back to headquarters.

"Well?" Fornell asked expectantly.

"Can't find him," Gibbs answered.

"So you're just giving up?"

"I phrased that wrongly. He's avoiding us," Gibbs snarled.

"He's got classes tomorrow," Abby pointed out, "I can just go and disrupt one of them."

Gibbs granted permission, making Abby squeal with delight. It would be Snape's own fault if he had Abby hanging over his shoulder the entire day. Had he not kept dodging them, Abby would have been made to stay in headquarters and work.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Knives for Potions

Hmm... rather pointless chapter... review anyway! Pwease?


	31. Knives for Potions

**Knives for Potions**

Severus Snape sat to the left of Dumbledore, eating breakfast. The Muggles had failed to show this morning. He would have been completely indifferent if it weren't for the fact that he was happy about it.

He'd been tipped off that two of them, the team leader and the forensic scientist, were looking for him last night. Knowing that Miss Sciuto had a mouth that ran 100 miles per hour had encouraged him to not stay in one place for long. And Snape understood why Gibbs was acting the way he was, but that didn't mean he wanted to be around it.

Snape joined the slow moving mass towards the Great Hall doors. He still had a few minutes before his first class. Enough time to check his office and make sure the Weasleys hadn't done anything to it. They still hadn't used any of their Zonko's products.

The potions master flung open his classroom door. The students seemed more jumpy than usual. But, hey, all the more fun for him. Snape strode to the front of the room and turned to face the third year Slytherins and Gryffindors … and Officer David and Miss Sciuto.

Abby looked the man straight in the eye and smiled. "Professor Snape!" she chirped, "Just the guy I'm looking for! You're rather hard to find, you know that?"

Snape glared at her. How dare she interrupt his class? That was crossing lines that shouldn't _ever_ be crossed.

The Snape-glare that would reduce any student in the right mind to tears had no effect on Abby. She jumped out of her chair and skipped to the front of the room. "We need your help!" she said as she made her way.

"I'm in the middle of a class, Miss Sciuto, so if you wouldn't mind _waiting_!"

"This is more important than your class, Professor," Officer David said coolly from the back of the room.

"Very well," Snape said irritably, "What do you want?"

"I can't tell you _here_," Abby stated, jerking her head towards the students.

"I'm sure they've already formulated their pitiful theories, Miss Sciuto. _What do you want?_"

"The students are not privy to this conversation, Professor!" Ziva explained. "I will keep an eye on the students while you and Miss Sciuto step outside for a moment." It wasn't her volunteering. It was her ordering.

Abby bobbed her head, making her pig tails swing. She flashed her smile again and started towards the door. She made it there and had it open. Snape still hadn't moved. He was, instead, looking at Abby with a glare he had only reserved for Potters before.

"Well, if you don't want to help, I can do it myself. I'll just need to borrow your classroom and a few other things. Real quick, if I were to accidently – " Abby stopped short as Snape stalked over to the door quickly and shut it behind himself and the Goth.

Ziva stood up from her seat and made her way to the front of the room. She leaned on Snape's desk and looked over the teenagers.

A girl with long, bushy brown hair threw her hand into the air. "Please, Ma'am, what's happening?" she asked.

"One of them probably got lost and they're trying to organize a search party," a boy snorted.

Ziva fixed her eyes on the boy. She recognized the pale, pointed face and platinum blonde hair. It was the boy Professor McGonagall had snapped at and taken points from the night NCIS had arrived. "Malfoy, is it?"

"Yeah," the boy said, straightening up and scowling.

"What is your first name?"

"What's it to you, Muggle?"

Ziva disapproved of the boy's behavior. "Draco," she said slowly. She remembered now. She'd had quite a bit of trouble getting his prints. "Hmmm," she said thoughtfully, "Dragon Bad Faith. Interesting name you have."

"Have a problem with my name, do you? What's yours, then?" Malfoy snapped.

Ziva raised an eyebrow. She turned to Hermione Granger. "Tell me, Miss Granger, does Mr. Malfoy always act this way?"

"Yeah, he does!" Ron Weasley said under his breath.

"And does he usually get away with it?" Ziva asked Ron.

"Yes!"

"Huh…" Ziva slowly walked around behind Malfoy. He didn't turn to look at her. Instead, he glared at the black board. "I disapprove of the way you act, Mr. Malfoy."

"What a pity," Malfoy quipped.

In one quick, fluid motion, Ziva grabbed the boy's wrist and forced it behind his back, holding him in a chicken wing. Squirm and twist as he may, he wouldn't be getting loose. "This is to make sure you pay attention."

"Let go of me, you_ filthy _Muggle! When my father – "

"I do not care about your father," Ziva said calmly. "And if you are still hiding behind him at your age, you are quite sad. Now listen to me," she commanded as Malfoy continued trying to pull his arm free of her iron-clad grip. "I do not know what you get away with when talking to staff members or your fellow students, but I will not tolerate it. You will show me and my colleagues respect. Are we clear?"

Malfoy chose not to respond. Ziva pulled his arm slightly. "Alright! We're clear!" he shouted.

"Good!" Ziva smiled, let go and his limb, and walked back to the front of the room, ignoring the blonde boy's hissing. She took notice of the fact that all the Slytherins were glaring murderously at her, while the Gryffindors were looking at her like a hero.

"To answer your question, Miss Granger, I cannot tell you what is going on, presently. I am sure Professor Dumbledore will inform you all shortly," Ziva said as if nothing had happened.

"She's dead, isn't she? The Ravenclaw?" asked a Gryffindor.

"What is your name?" Ziva asked the boy.

"Dean Thomas. And she is! The girl that started choking last night!"

Ziva ignored him. "What are you working on today?"

"Shrinking Solutions, I think," said a boy with black hair and a scar barely visible under his bangs.

Ziva was about to inquire further, but something silvery on Hermione's desk caught her eye. She picked up the knife. "What is this?" she asked sharply, her demeanor suddenly changed completely.

"It's for cutting up ingredients!" Hermione said quickly. "Everyone has one. It's a requirement!"

Ziva slammed the knife down on the table and sighed heavily. 600 knives. Gibbs would want to go through them all. She pulled out her phone. "Tony?" That was all the students understood. Ziva promptly began speaking Spanish.

"Think it's something to do with the murders?" Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione.

"Probably," Ron said.

"Of course it has something to do with the murders! Pansy was killed with a knife, remember?" Hermione snapped quietly.

"Shhh!" Ron hissed. "We're not supposed to know that!"

"Oh, she can't hear us," Hermione retorted, glancing at Ziva, who was still on her phone.

Ziva shut her phone just as Snape stormed back into the room and Abby walked in behind him, still happy as ever.

"Professor," Ziva said emotionlessly, "we will get out of your way now. But I would like to bring these three back with us."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione gave each other terrified glances. It was enough to convince Snape to nod curtly. The three students packed up and followed Ziva and Abby out, their heads hung low.

"Have we done something wrong, Officer David?" Hermione asked shyly.

"No," Ziva answered. "However, I am curious as to how you know information that has not been shared with anyone outside the staff."

"I _told _you!" Ron snapped.

"How was I supposed to know she was listening?" Hermione hissed.

"I am always listening," Ziva said, "I heard your conversation. I also heard Mr. Malfoy making some rather gruesome threats against me."

"Malfoy's an idiot," Harry said heatedly. Ziva had a strong feeling that his dislike for the Slytherin went further than threats made against her.

"So how often do you have Potions?" Abby asked excitedly.

"We've got a double period once a week…" Ron said skeptically, looking at Abby oddly.

"Oh, gosh! You guys get to learn so much cool stuff! I'd _love_ to learn potions!"

"You say that now," Ron muttered so quietly that only his friends heard.

Ziva opened the door to NCIS headquarters and held it for the three students and Abby.

Abby bounded straight over to Gibbs' desk. "He says he's got a few ideas. He'll get it figured out fairly quickly, I'm sure!" she told the lead agent. She then strode back into her sanctuary. Music could be distinctly heard as the doors opened and slid shut behind her.

"Ziva…" Gibbs said slowly, looking at the three nervous students.

"Give me your bags," Ziva demanded, holding out her hand. Grudgingly, each student forfeit their school bag. Ziva carelessly emptied them onto the floor and picked up three knives.

Gibbs glared at the knives and immediately understood. He turned his gaze onto the third years.

Hermione didn't need for him to ask. She immediately explained in a squeaky voice, "They're a requirement for potions! Everyone has one!"

"That is not all," Ziva said as Gibbs threw his head back. "These three know how victim three was killed."

Gibbs raised his eyebrows and turned to tower over the Hogwarts students. "How do you know?"

"We – we heard Professor Snape telling Professor McGonagall," Harry stuttered.

Gibbs' blue eyes bored into Harry's green ones. "You're lying to me," he stated. "That is not a good idea. Potter, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir," Harry said, bending backwards to get further away from Gibbs.

"Do you want to try giving me a different answer?"

"I already told you my answer!" Harry said defiantly, taking a new approach. He stood up straight and crossed his arms.

"No, you're covering up for someone," Gibbs said simply. "Who?"

"Harry, he'll find out anyway…" Hermione said quietly.

"There's nothing to find out!" Harry retorted, not breaking his staring contest with Gibbs.

"Isn't there?" Gibbs challenged. "Who told you?"

"No one told us!" Ron chimed in. "We heard Snape telling McGonagall!"

"Is that true, Miss Granger?" Gibbs questioned, now looking at the girl with brown bushy hair.

Hermione nodded unconvincingly.

"Miss Granger, why don't you go talk with Officer David for a bit. DiNozzo!" Gibbs called over his shoulder as Ziva led Hermione to an interrogation room.

Tony leapt up from his seat and galloped over to his boss.

"Weasley, you can go with Agent DiNozzo. Potter, with me."

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Musical Interrogation Rooms

Are you really surprised to find out that the Golden Trio knows? ...Have you _read _the Harry Potter series? Gosh! :)

Tell me what you thought! Click the green button! When that little page with a textbox comes up, write something in there and then hit send! Then this thing appears in my inbox that tells me I have a review and I cry with joy.


	32. Musical Interrogation Rooms

**Musical Interrogation Rooms**

Tony had grabbed Ron's file on his way to the interrogation room. He had it open in his hands as he leaned against the door. Ron sat in a chair, watching him.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley. Sixth child out of seven. That's gotta suck," Tony said without looking up.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Ron said sourly.

"Nothing, really," Tony said with a shrug. He closed the file and took the seat across Ron. "I don't have any brothers or sisters."

"Wish I didn't," Ron muttered.

"Why's that?"

Ron looked up at Tony disbelievingly. "Five older brothers. They always overshadow you and push you around."

"Any of them pushing you around now?"

"No," Ron scoffed quickly.

Tony smiled and leaned forward. "You say no, but your body says differently. One of your siblings told you, didn't they? And you don't want them getting into trouble."

"We already told you that we heard Snape – "

"No," Tony corrected, "Harry told us that you heard Snape telling McGonagall. Do you want to know how I know that's a lie?" Ron didn't respond. "I know that's not true because Professor McGonagall was in the room with us when we got back from collecting Miss Parkinson. She already knew exactly what happened without Professor Snape telling her."

Ron's ears began turning red and his frown deepened.

"So who told you?"

* * *

Ziva sat across from Hermione, just staring at her.

Hermione shifted her weight. "Are you going to ask me any questions?"

Instead of answering, Ziva opened Hermione's very thin file. "Hermione Jean Granger, thirteen, Muggle-born," she read. "We have heard from Professor Dumbledore that you are the cleverest in your class."

Hermione blushed violently at the compliment that had come from the Headmaster.

"If you are so smart, Miss Granger, you will tell me how you know Pansy Parkinson was killed with a knife," Ziva said evenly.

"Harry told you!" Hermione stated.

"Mr. Potter told us a lie. You know the Muggle world. You know that police can tell when people are lying to them."

"With a polygraph test!" Hermione retorted.

"The polygraph is for the records. The good police can tell when someone is lying to them. Miss Granger, you are dealing with some of the best of law enforcement. Do you want to know what tips me off to your lying?"

Hermione looked interested despite herself.

"Your breathing quickens, and your nostrils flare slightly."

Hermione put a hand over her nose.

"If you will not tell me who told you, tell me why you will not tell me," Ziva continued on as if nothing had happened.

"They'd get in such _trouble_!" Hermione's voice came out muffled owed to the fact that her hand was over her mouth as well as her nose.

"They?" Ziva said interestedly.

Hermione groaned.

* * *

"Sit," Gibbs invited Harry as he took his own seat, his back to the mirror in the room.

Harry hesitantly sat down in the unwelcoming chair.

"So how was Pansy Parkinson killed, Harry?" Gibbs lifted his eyes from the table and looked at the boy across him.

Knowing that he was in too deep to lie about it, Harry answered honestly, "I heard her wrists got cut up."

"Heard from who?"

"I told you – "

"Yeah, I heard what you said. Now tell me the truth."

"I told the truth!" Harry said heatedly.

"This is not the time to be covering up for your friends! I don't care how you heard! I just need to know!"

"I'm not covering – "

"Professor McGonagall was there with Professor Snape when we told him how Pansy Parkinson was killed, Potter. He didn't need to tell her."

Harry's eyes widened. He knew he was caught.

"So who did you hear from? I'm not here to get you into trouble."

"But you'll tell McGonagall," Harry stated.

"No I won't," Gibbs said evenly.

Harry sighed deeply. He'd promised…

"Gibbs, Tony, Ziva," said a voice on the interrogation room intercom, "we've got trouble!"

Gibbs hauled himself out of his seat and stormed out of the small room. "Abb – " he was cut short of his yelling by a furious Professor McGonagall.

"_What do you think you're doing_?" she hissed.

Ziva and Tony came out of their own rooms, looking almost as upset as Gibbs.

"You!" McGonagall shouted and pointed a finger at Ziva. "You _assaulted_ a student!"

Ziva chuckled in spite of the situation. "Is that what he told you?"

"Gah!" Tony said dramatically. "Ziva, did you rip off someone else's arm? Save it for a midnight snack?"

"She nearly did!" McGonagall snarled.

Ziva chortled again. "I did him no harm. I simply put him in his place. If he had been so rude in my country, the teacher would have beaten him."

"We're not in your country, Officer David!"

"Ziva, what happened?" Gibbs asked.

"I was waiting for Abby to come back from talking with Professor Snape. Mr. Malfoy got the idea to start getting smart with me. I pinned his arm behind his back and put him in his place."

"He said you threatened him!" McGonagall growled.

"I do not remember such an event taking place," Ziva said calmly. "And you are believing this boy? This Draco Malfoy, the same boy who said McDonald's death wasn't worth investigating? You are going to believe _him_?"

Professor McGonagall looked as if Ziva had slapped her. After recovering, she changed the subject. "And what are you doing, pulling three of my Gryffindors out of class? I did not give you permission to do so! _And_ you said that another adult had to be present when you interrogated them."

"Don't you have a class, Professor?" Gibbs asked impatiently.

"I dismissed them early!" she snapped. "Now give me my students back!"

"I can't do that, Professor."

"Why not?"

"Well, they're suspects in our case, Professor. We like asking those kinds of people lots of questions. Classes take back seat," Tony explained.

"_SUSPECTS?_" McGonagall raged. "Those are three thirteen year olds who – "

"Know how Parkinson was killed. That's worth looking into." Gibbs was trying his hardest not to shout.

"Those three are the absolute last I would suspect! They've proven over their past years that they – "

"You're a biased judge, McGonagall!" Gibbs snarled, losing his last bit of patience. "Your suspicions mean nothing!" He turned his back on her and reentered interrogation. Tony and Ziva hurried to follow his lead before the stunned professor regained her voice.

* * *

"Professor McGonagall doesn't sound happy," Ron said with an odd glee as Tony reentered.

"Things are just peachy between us and Professor McGonagall thanks!" Tony quipped as he sat back down. "Where were we?" Tony faked wondering for a moment. "Ah! Right! Who told you about Pansy?"

"No one did, alright?" Ron snapped.

"If no one told you, you're telling me that you were at the crime scene!" Tony's eyes lit up.

Ron paled and rushed to defend himself. "You – you think I'd've killed Pansy? No way!"

"Did I say you killed her?" Tony asked eagerly, making Ron all the more nervous and jumpy.

"You implied it!"

"I said you were at the crime scene," Tony corrected. "Why so guilty, Weasley?"

"I wasn't ever on the Astronomy tower the week Pansy was killed!" Ron shouted.

"How do you know she was on the Astronomy tower?"

Ron's face went from white to red. He slammed his fist on the table at his slip up.

* * *

"Was that Professor McGonagall?" Hermione asked Ziva the moment the door opened.

"Yes," Ziva said blankly.

"Do you really think we're suspects?"

Ziva didn't answer. "Who is 'they'?"

"They could be anyone," Hermione smartly replied.

Ziva smiled at the girl's cleverness. "Hermione – may I call you Hermione? – I am going to ask you yes or no questions. Answer them.

"Did you hear about Pansy from another student?"

"No," Hermione said quickly. Too quickly.

"Did someone from your House tell you about Pansy?"

"I just said it wasn't – "

"Yes or no, Hermione!"

"No!" Hermione cast her eyes down and to the left, looking at the table.

"Was it someone from your class?"

"No!" The truth! Finally!

"So we are looking for someone who is a Gryffindor that is not in your year?"

"No!" Back to lying.

"Fantastic!" Ziva said, gathering up Hermione's file and standing up. "You can stay here for a while." She left the room.

Thinking McGonagall would be in the bull pen, just waiting for someone to come out, Ziva quickly jumped into the next door observation room to watch Gibbs talk to Harry.

"Fancy seeing you here, Officer David!"

Ziva resisted the urge to swear under her breath. She's just walked straight into McGonagall's livid clutches. "Professor McGonagall," she said evenly.

"Finished with Miss Granger, then?"

"For now."

"How dare you suspect these three?"

Ziva rolled her eyes, her back to the teacher. It wasn't like she _chose_ suspects!

"Potter, Weasley, and Granger have nearly died twice _saving_ Hogwarts! They're not about to start killing the people they've fought to save!" McGonagall began arguing.

"Normally, that record would be enough to let them go. However," Ziva countered herself, "these three have information they shouldn't, which makes us curious. Arguing with me will not do you any good. Now please, I would like to listen!"

* * *

"You were about to tell me how you found about Pansy," Gibbs told Harry as he pulled his chair forward.

"No I wasn't," Harry quickly denied.

"I've told you that I don't care about whatever rules you or the person that told you broke. I just need to trace the feed back and find out where the information came from originally."

Harry remained unresponsive.

"Do you realize how serious this situation is, Harry? I'm beginning to think that you didn't hear it from anyone." Harry looked puzzled, and Gibbs continued, "That means that I'm beginning to think that you had something to do with Pansy's death."

"Whoah!" Harry exclaimed. "I didn't like her, but I never _touched_ Pansy Parkinson! Neither did Ron and Hermione!"

"Don't worry about Ron and Hermione," Gibbs ordered, "They're being taken care of. I'm curious about you. Why so defensive?"

"Because we didn't do it!"

"Then how do you know?"

"I promised I wouldn't tell! If I tell you, some teacher's going to find out and then they'll get into trouble! I _promised_, and I keep my word!"

Gibbs smirked briefly. He stood up and left the room. Ziva came out into the main area as well, Professor McGonagall in tow. "Get DiNozzo."

Ziva did as told.

Professor McGonagall seemed too angry to speak. Gibbs looked upon this as an improvement.

Tony came out of interrogation and sighed heavily. "He's not saying anything."

Gibbs nodded. "That seems to be the way these kids work." He then shocked his subordinates by saying, "Put them all in room one."

"Gibbs?" Ziva asked, sounding shocked.

"Gibbs, that's breaking rule number _one_!" Tony said disbelievingly. "'Never let suspects stay together!'"

"There's a footnote on there, DiNozzo," Gibbs said as he closed the space between him and the other agent. "'Never let suspects stay together _unless your boss says differently!_'"

"Putting suspects in room one, Boss!" Tony immediately left to get Ron, Ziva to get Hermione.

"I'm telling you," McGonagall was trying to say calmly from clenched teeth, "they haven't done anything!"

"I don't want them seeing you, Professor," Gibbs said simply.

Though completely outraged, Professor McGonagall turned on her heel and entered observation room one.

Once Ron and Hermione were in the same room as Harry, Gibbs, Ziva, and Tony joined McGonagall in observation.

"Wait," Tony said slowly, "I thought you were going to talk to them?"

"Nah," Gibbs said, looking through the glass, "We've got them riled. They'll answer our questions for us."

"What'd they ask you?" Harry said lowly.

"They want to know who told us," Ron said as if it were obvious. "McGonagall was with Snape when he was told how Pansy was killed."

Harry swore and leaned back in his chair. "I thought he was just messing with me!" His first action caused his teacher in observation to hiss with displeasure.

"We should just tell them who we heard from. We don't have to say where they heard it!" Hermione suggested.

"Yeah, right. They'll just bring them in and hold them instead of us!" Ron retorted.

"It was just a suggestion," Hermione said quietly, lowering her face.

"They can't keep us here forever!" Harry stated. "I heard McGonagall doesn't like the Muggles much. She'll get us out of here, I'm sure!"

"I don't know, Harry," Hermione countered. "McGonagall wants to know just as badly as us who's killing people off."

"Well she's not going to think we're doing it!" Ron scoffed. "And she's not going to believe Fred and George did it either!"

"Ah ha!" Tony said triumphantly from behind the glass. "Gotcha! Should we let them go, Boss?"

"No," Gibbs said evenly. "Fred and George are older, smarter and more organized. We'll never get anything out of them. Wait."

McGonagall breathed heavily. Here were her students, thinking she'd rescue them, and she couldn't. And then to add to it, her students were suspects in four murders. Ha! Like a Gryffindor would do such a thing!

But a tiny voice in the back of her head said cruelly, "_Remember Sirius, Minerva? Remember him?_" She pushed the voice aside and turned her attention back to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"No one's got any clue who's doing it, Ron! We wouldn't think a Ravenclaw would kill anyone, either!" Hermione retorted.

"We don't know that it _was_ a Ravenclaw, Hermione," Harry pointed out, "Cho said her older sister said that Penelope was poisoned."

"Cho Chang loves a good story," Hermione said sourly. "I don't think she's a reliable source."

"You're only saying that because Harry's been talking about her and staring at her at lunch and not paying attention to anything you've said recently," Ron said with a smirk.

"Not true!" Hermione defended as Harry's face turned red. "I just don't think she's a good person to be getting information from is all! I mean… she teases Myrtle all the time!"

"Yeah," Ron said carelessly, "Who doesn't?"

"And what does teasing Moaning Myrtle have to do with information that was first shared with Ravenclaws? All of them have been telling the same story, Hermione. Even Parvati said that Padma said Penelope was poisoned. And anyone could have done that. All they'd have to do was find someone at Ravenclaw to chat with for a minute," Harry argued.

Hermione leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Well if you two are going to gang up on me, you can find your own way out of this mess! I'm telling them we heard from Fred and George!"

"No, you're _not_!" Ron nearly shouted.

"Yes I am, Ron! It's they're own fault if they get into trouble! They shouldn't be sneaking into the staffroom!" Hermione said in equal tones.

"Bingo!" Gibbs said.

"Now should I let them go, Boss?"

"Nope!" Gibbs said again. "Go get Fred and George first! Take McGee with you."

"On it, Boss!" Tony said without his usual enthusiasm. He left the room.

"Why not let them go? You've gotten your bloody information!" McGonagall snarled.

Gibbs turned his head to look at her. "They know more," he explained.

"You make it sound like they do it all the time," Ron muttered.

"That's because they _do_, Ron!" Hermione said exasperatedly.

"It's useful!" Ron tried to argue.

"No it's not!" Hermione squealed. "All it does is get us into trouble! Look where it landed us! Look where it's going to land _them_! They're going to get in loads of trouble from McGonagall and from your mum!"

"No they won't," Ron said determinedly, "Because we aren't turning them in!"

"Why don't you two ever _listen_ to me?" Hermione said, clearly frustrated. Angry tears welled in her eyes. "I'm trying to be reasonable! I'm trying to get us out of trouble without really getting Fred and George in trouble, and you're yelling at me!"

"Nix the Fred and George bit," Ron said under his breath.

"I heard that, Ron!" Hermione snapped.

"Fine!" Ron shouted. "While we're telling them that Fred and George told us about Pansy, why don't we tell them that they also know about Gavin and Davies and that first year! Get them into even _less_ trouble!"

"Hey," Harry said, trying to calm things down, "Just let it go! Fred and George can handle themselves! I – I think Hermione's got the right idea."

"Oh, sure! Side with the girl who's got a pet-killing monster of a cat, but not your best mate!"

"Ron, that's – "

"Crookshanks is only following his instincts, Ron!" Hermione shrieked.

"Gibbs, this is getting out of hand," Ziva said.

Gibbs nodded. "Take them back to class. Keep the knives."

Ziva left the room. A moment later, she appeared on the other side of the glass.

"Are you happy, Agent Gibbs?" McGonagall snarled as she and he left the room.

"I'm after information, Professor. These kids had it."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stepped out of interrogation after Ziva and saw McGonagall. The look on their faces when they understood that they're professor hadn't come to save them was that of pure betrayal. It was such that Professor McGonagall actually felt guilty and came very close to apologizing.

As Ziva led the trio out of the room, Tony and McGee came in with Fred and George.

"Harry!"

"Ron!"

"Hermione!"

"What brings you to this fine destination?"

"Skipping class?" Fred suggested. He saw McGonagall and sighed heavily. "Ah, novices. You're not supposed to get caught by the teacher!"

"We weren't skipping," Harry defended.

"Lay off!" Ron snapped irritably.

Ziva pulled the trio out of the room and closed the door.

Fred and George walked right up to Gibbs and McGonagall. "Well, what are we in for?" one of them asked.

"Wait!" the other said, "Where's the woman that's always in the camouflage?" He spun around on the spot as if she'd appear behind him.

"Hospital wing," Gibbs answered. "She hurt her back." It was the truth. Colonel Mann's hiding place wasn't a good one. Madam Pomfery had easily found her and dragged her back to the hospital wing to continue recovering, stress free.

"Oh, that's never fun!"

"Anyway! What'd we do this time?" said the first twin.

"Because those dung bombs in Snape's office– "

"Was not us!"

McGonagall's nostrils flared and she glared at the boys.

"Fornell!" Gibbs called.

Fornell poked his head up above the wall divider. "What?"

"Come on!"

"I thought I would be helping, Boss!" Tony objected weakly.

Gibbs put each of the twins in a room before turning to Tony. "I don't want you getting on their bad side, DiNozzo." He said before entering one of the rooms. Fornell went into the other.

Tony led McGonagall into observation, thoroughly confused by his boss' reasoning.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Doubled Double Trouble

I did it! I did it! I put up the chapter! And I didn't... oh, crap. I kind of did leave you with a cliffie. ... sorry about that...

Review anyway? Please?


	33. Doubled Double Trouble

**Doubled Double Trouble**

Tobias Fornell looked George Weasley right in the eye.

"Agent Fornell, right?" George said with a smile. "FBI, yeah? What's that stand for?"

"Federal Bureau of Investigation," Fornell told him, not breaking eye contact.

"Ahh, from over in the States, eh? How's the weather been there? It's kind of rainy over here."

Fornell smirked. The kid was funny, he'd give him that. "Your brother and his friends were just in here."

"No kidding!" George exclaimed. "Those are the kids I just saw? I was wondering why they looked so familiar!" George wasn't being rude, simply joking with the man questioning him.

"Tell me about yourself, George."

"Why?" George asked. "You've got everything about me you need to know in that file there!" He pointed at the manilla envelope in Fornell's hand.

"Grabbed your brother's by mistake," Fornell said smoothly.

"Oh, you've got Fred's? That's alright. I can play his part quite convincingly!"

"Tell me about you, George."

"Well, alright. That is my favorite subject, after all!" George said good naturedly. "My parents are Molly and Arthur Weasley. Mother's maiden name is Prewett. I am their third youngest. My siblings, in age order, are Unbeatable Bill, Charlie the Charming, Pompous Percy, Fred the Freaky, me, Regular Ron, and Ginny the Great," George took a deep breath and continued. "I live at the Burrow with my family and a large population of gnomes that never seem to go away. My father works for the Ministry of Magic and absolutely loves Muggles. My mother stays at home and keeps watch over the house and probably spends a good portion of the day knitting. Shall I continue?" he asked Fornell.

"Oh, by all means," Fornell said absentmindedly. He was now looking at George's file.

"Alright, then! Bill's curse breaker for Gringotts, the wizard bank. Charlie works with dragons. Percy… well, he doesn't approve of the way Fred and I act. Oh, the horror it'll cause once he's in the Minister's office!" George made a dramatic gesture. "Fred's older than me by a minute and a half, as he likes to often remind me. We'd love nothing more than to open a joke-shop once we get out of school, but our mother's rather disapproving, and she frightens us three times more than any teacher here does! And then Ron… well, he's Ron. Hangs out with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, but I'm sure you know that by now. I guess he's not too bad. He's got some stuff under his belt he can brag about. Ginny… Merlin's beard! Where to start? She's a ball of fire, that thing. Fred and I try not to mess with her too much. She's got a mean bat-bogey hex!"

"That's a nice look into your family you've given me," Fornell said. "But tell me about you!"

"Oh, me? Alright, I suppose. Hmm… I've got blue hair, purple eyes, am darker than night, I _always_ play by the rules, and I have been alive for 15 days, 5 months, and one year. Wait… that can't be right…" George pretended to be lost in thought, trying to figure out how he'd messed up.

Fornell had what he wanted. He now knew George's tell.

"So we had a chat with your little brother and his friends. I was watching the tape from my desk."

"Tape?" George asked. His face twisted into a confused state.

"Muggle thing," Fornell said simply. The explanation satisfied George. "Do you know what I found really interesting?"

"No, Agent Fornell! What did you find really interesting? I'm interested."

"They knew how each of the four dead students was killed."

"They did? What, do you think they killed them? George asked, his lips twitching upward. "Ron's got a temper, and Hermione's pretty smart, and Harry knows his way around, but they're all good kids. Heck, if they were given the option to die in stead of one of those kids, they'd have done it in a heartbeat."

"Oh, I know they didn't do it," Fornell said, leaning back into his chair. "I'm curious as to why you know about it, too, though."

"I don't know anything about those murders," George lied quite convincingly. But Fornell saw his pinky twitch slightly, just as it had when George said he had blue hair.

"You know, George," Fornell sighed, "I like you. So I'm going to give you a chance to change your answer."

George grinned. "They told you, didn't they?" He exhaled and leaned back in his own chair. He then proceeded to cross his arms and legs in perfect imitation of Fornell. "Well, alright then. I suppose I could get into worse trouble," George said with a shrug. "Yeah, Fred and I told them. We were sneaking around the castle the other night and just happened to find ourselves in the staffroom! Inexplicable! I don't know how it happened!"

Fornell didn't respond. He just continued to look at George.

"Moving on," George said after clearing his throat. "There wasn't anyone in there, so we were just kind of hanging out. Then the door started opening, so we hid in the cloak closet. Poor Professor McGonagall came into the room with Professor Sprout complaining about someone called Agent Gibbs. Who this could be, I haven't a clue," he said sarcastically. "And then they started talking about the dreadful murders taking place, and how the Chamber had been bad enough last year, so on and so forth. You get the picture."

"That I do," Fornell stated. He collected George's file and held open the door for the fifteen year old.

"Why thank you kindly, Agent Fornell!" George said as he passed the agent. He turned to go out the way he'd come in and was met with Professor McGonagall, who wasn't looking happy at all. Behind her was Fred, who'd already finished being interviewed by Gibbs.

"Professor McGonagall!" he said with exaggerated innocence and joy. "You just heard all of that, didn't you?"

"You'd better hope, Weasley, that your mother will disagree with the punishment I've got in mind for you!" McGonagall snapped.

Fred and George both hung their heads. Mrs. Weasley would think that whatever McGonagall had in mind would be perfectly reasonable.

"Back to class. I'll let you know about your punishment later!" McGonagall snarled. Her students hurried away.

"Boss, why couldn't I interview one of them?" Tony asked at once the second the door had closed. It had clearly been bugging him.

"In a boarding school, DiNozzo," Gibbs said as he settled down behind his desk. "who knows what's going on best?"

"Pranksters," Tony responded immediately. "Everyone knows that!"

"I would disagree," McGonagall entered the conversation. "The teachers entrust a lot of information to the school prefects."

"Prefects?" Tony asked. "Are those the kids that help the teachers maintain control of the student body?"

"Yes…"

"They don't know diddly squat," Tony stated. "You see, it's the jokers that hear all the conversations they shouldn't. And unlike the teachers' pets, the other students like and trust the jokers. They're more laid back and won't turn you in for anything."

McGonagall raised her eyebrow at Tony.

"Trust me, Professor. I went through six years as a prankster at boarding school. My buddies and I knew things about our fellow classmates as well as the staff that no one else knew."

"And who are the Hogwarts pranksters?" Gibbs asked, looking at Tony.

"The Weasley twins!" Ziva exclaimed. "I head the teachers talking about them at the bar! The twins had just come out of a joke shop, I looked into it later! The staff was complaining about how they had restocked!"

"I'm sure I'll regret it, but DiNozzo, make friends," Gibbs said.

"With those two?" Tony questioned. "They'll rip me apart!"

"Which is why you'll make friends, DiNozzo."

"But – "

A glare from Gibbs quickly shut Tony up. "I said I'd regret it."

A smile spread over Tony's face. "Really, Boss? You're giving me that kind of freedom?"

Gibbs didn't answer. He turned towards his computer screens.

"Wait a moment!" McGonagall shouted, finally catching up with the conversation. "You can't –"

Gibbs leaned forward onto his elbows and looked at McGonagall expectantly.

"You're sending Agent DiNozzo to encourage and help the school's biggest pranksters in over a decade?" McGonagall said through her teeth.

"I think it's about time we started getting more comfortable," Gibbs said calmly. "We've been here a while, and there's no telling when we'll leave."

McGonagall looked very much like she wanted to shout and argue. However, knowing she wouldn't get anywhere with Gibbs, she swung around and headed up the stairs that led to the Director's office.

"Tony, you'd better get to work on your new assignment pretty damn soon," Gibbs told the younger agent.

"I'll have to do some late-night sneaking, Boss!" Tony said with a smile.

"Do whatever you need to."

Tony's smile turned to a grin that went from ear to ear.

Gibbs turned toward his female agent. "Ziva, you need to make friends, too."

"Tony and I working together with the Weasley twins is _not_ a good idea, Gibbs," Ziva objected.

"I needed Professor McGonagall out of the room. She's rather attached to her third years."

"You mean Potter, Weasley, and Granger?" Ziva said confusedly.

"Miss Granger could use a friend that has more estrogen than testosterone, Zee-vah!" Tony pointed out.

"Befriend Granger, you befriend the other two. You said the staff was talking about their investigative skills at the bar, too." Gibbs returned his attention to his screens.

"Gibbs, those three were ready to tear each other apart!" Ziva said as she stood up and walked over to her boss' desk.

"You and DiNozzo are frequently at each other's throats, Officer David, and yet you two will still pull together when necessary." Gibbs' comparison made sense to Ziva, who shrugged and went back to her own desk.

"I think it will be even more difficult for me than for Tony. Hermione Granger has likely taken a disliking to me," Ziva stated.

"Figure out a way to get her to trust you, then."

Ziva suddenly smiled. She knew what she was doing.

"What about me, Boss?" McGee said from his desk, looking eager.

"Abby's going to need your help, McGee. You'll stay put."

"What's Abby going to need my help for, Boss?" McGee's face twisted to look confused.

"Testing over 600 knives for the presence of human blood," Gibbs answered. He stood up and headed towards the stairs.

"I wouldn't do that, Boss! McGonagall might actually kill you this time!" Tony called after him.

Gibbs ignored him and continued, finally opening the door of Jenny's office.

"Think we'll get our boss back?" McGee asked.

"Witch with a wand versus Boss with a gun… it'll be close," Tony said dramatically.

Ziva chuckled and stood up, grabbing her badge.

"And where are you going, Ziva David?"

"To the library, Tony! I will be back in a while!"

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter, what you've all been waiting for - Potions Master vs. Forensic Scientist

"OMG! Alittleinsane! Where's Gibbs interviewing Fred? Come on! I wanna see it!" Yes, I know, and Im sorry to disappoint you. I didn't write it. Fornell and George don't get enough stage time. So I gave it to them.

I love reviews!!!!! :)


	34. Potions Master vs Forensic Scientist

**Potions Master vs. Forensic Scientist**

"Gibbs!" a distant voice called. "Gibbs!" The voice got clearer and clearer.

Jethro Gibbs opened his eyes, leaned up, and rolled his neck. He'd fallen asleep at his desk after talking to Dumbledore, which had happened after the biggest, loudest, and longest fight he'd had with McGonagall yet.

"Good morning!" Abby said with bounce. "Time for breakfast!"

Gibbs stood up and stretched a bit, yawning. "What time is it?"

"7:54!"

"Wake up DiNozzo, David and McGee."

"Done!" Abby exclaimed. "They've been up since 6:30. I didn't let them wake you up though. Yelling can be very physically taxing, you know!"

"Abby!" Gibbs said exasperatedly.

"Gibbs! You need your sleep!" Abby argued.

"Thanks, Abbs." Abby smiled. Gibbs held up a finger, stopping her speech before it started. "Wake me up next time!" He left to quickly change and then the team headed right down to the Great Hall.

Gibbs and McGonagall completely ignored each other's presence. While that was an improvement to their constant arguing, the rest of the team felt a bit awkward as they filled in the seats between the two.

Professor McGonagall was in a very bad mood. The fact that she kept catching Officer David and Agent DiNozzo watching her Gryffindors didn't help at all.

Snape was rather peeved, as well. This was because the agents would be collecting every single one of the students' knives. That meant that he had to put classes on hold, buy a set of knives for class use, or work around the fact and find reasonable potions to teach that didn't involve cutting things up. It was a lot of extra work that he was not happy about.

To add onto that, Miss Sciuto had been granted permission to sit in on his classes for the day. Snape took her bouncing up and down in her seat as she spoke with Agent McGee as a very, very bad thing for him.

"Where are you going, Ziva David?" Tony asked as his colleague stood up and grabbed her backpack.

"Your new mission requires no extra effort from you, Tony!" Ziva explained. "I, on the other hand, must do quite a bit of learning and reading!"

"Oh, please! My assignment will require plenty of effort!" Tony scoffed.

Ziva chuckled and left for the library.

"Abby! Just take a deep breath… in… and out..." McGee coached. Abby was far more wound up than she'd been the entirety of the visit.

"I can't, McGee! A whole day of watching a magic class! MAGIC, McGee! How are you not excited?" Abby squealed.

"I'm not excited because I'm not going," McGee said slowly.

"What are you talking about, McGee?" Gibbs snapped.

McGee looked questioningly at his boss.

"You're going with Abby! I don't want her going anywhere by herself!"

McGee cracked a wide smile.

"Do you have the testers, McGee?" Abby asked impatiently.

"No… I thought you would have them since I didn't know I was going until five seconds ago…"

Abby jumped out of her seat and pulled McGee up with her. "We have to go get them now! We don't want to be late!" She tugged him out of the hall.

"You know," Tony said to Jenny, who was a seat away, "Fred and George remind me a lot of my buddy Donny."

"Is that a good thing?" Jenny asked

"Well, yeah! Donny always knew what was going on with everyone. If these two are as much like him as I think, they might be able to give us a couple of leads."

"Then get to work soon, DiNozzo, before Gibbs throws another fit."

"I've started working, don't worry. It's just harder than it looks. Befriending pranksters isn't easy."

"For another prankster, it is!" Jenny said with a smile.

Tony returned the smile. "We're different breeds of jokers. They've got a different style, I'm sure. I have to figure out what it is and adjust."

"What about Ziva and the younger three?" Jenny asked and then took a bite of toast.

"She's going to get to the boys through the girl. She's planning on spending a lot of time in the library."

Before Jenny could respond, breakfast was dismissed and Tony had rushed off. She looked over at Gibbs questioningly. He pretended he didn't see her.

* * *

"Oh my gosh!" Abby gasped as she watched the third year students work. "This is just like chem lab!"

"Abby, focus," McGee said uselessly as he examined the knife in his hand.

"But this is so cool, Tim! Look! That one just changed colors!"

Snape caught wind of Abby's exclamation and looked over his class. His eyes landed on Neville Longbottom's cauldron, which was full of pink liquid and beginning to bubble. He sighed and strode across the room, flicked his wand to empty the cauldron and said, "Next time, Longbottom, stir the way the book says. Clockwise, not counter-clockwise! Five points from Gryffindor!"

Neville peered into his empty cauldron and looked as if he were trying not to cry.

"Aww…" Abby said sympathetically.

"Abby! We're here for work, not pleasure!" McGee snapped.

"You're here for work. I'm here for both!"

A loud bang sounded from across the room. A cauldron had blown up and bright green liquid spewed all over the classroom. McGee pulled Abby under a table just in time. The potion soared over their heads and hit the wall behind them.

"Goyle!" Snape shouted. A stupid looking Slytherin boy hopped around, his hands over his face. "Someone take him to the hospital wing!"

Another boy that looked just as stupid as Goyle escorted him out. With a wave of Snape's wand, the green goo disappeared. He returned to his desk.

"No points from Slytherin?" Abby asked after a moment. "He _really_ messed up!"

"You are not here to criticize the way I teach, Miss Sciuto," Snape hissed.

"That's not teaching!" Abby said indignantly. She pulled her arm out of McGee's hand and walked up to Snape's desk. "If you're going to take points from Neville for messing up, you ought to take points from Goyle for messing up twice as badly!"

"Miss Sciuto, would you mind returning to your work and letting me do mine?" Snape sounded dangerous. Some students were even scooting their chairs back.

"That is _not_ teaching! That's bullying!"

McGee looked over at the classroom full of students. They'd all abandoned their cauldrons and were watching Snape and Abby with rapt attention, many with looks of horror on their faces. A few looked ready to run in an instant, and others like they wanted to go grab Abby and pull her away from the professor who was getting angrier and angrier.

What the students couldn't see that McGee could was Abby's face. Her eyebrows were pulled down so they almost touched, her lips were pursed, and she had that crazy look in her eye…

"I am trying to be reasonable, Miss Sciuto, - "

"Um… no, you're not!"

Snape continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "But if you continue to disrupt my class I will force you to leave and you will not be allowed to return."

"Take points from Goyle or give Neville his points back!" Abby demanded.

Snape finally stood up. He was taller than Abby, but that didn't deter her at all. She stared straight into his face with determination. "I'll ask you one more time to return to your work and leave me to mine!"

"You're asking to do me something. I'm ordering you to do something. Ordering takes precedence over asking. Take points from Goyle or give Neville his five points back, and I'll gladly leave you alone!"

Several students gasped at Abby's statement and they all scooted further back from the front of the room.

McGee decided enough was enough. He walked to the front of the room and grabbed Abby firmly by the shoulders and, with difficulty, turned her away. "Sorry, Professor," he said to Snape. He pulled Abby back to their work station.

Snape was seething. His chest rose and fell with heavy breathing and he looked like he'd like nothing better than to hit Abby.

Neville looked absolutely terrified. He cast a quick glance over at Abby. She winked at him and then got back to work as if nothing had happened to interrupt it. Neville blushed deeply and hid himself behind his Potions book.

Class ended. Abby grabbed Neville before he could leave and hauled him up to Snape's desk with her.

"You know, Professor," Abby started, "I'd normally ask for an apology, as well, but I can see that you're far too prideful for that. Give Neville points back or take some from Goyle!"

Snape'd head snapped up from the papers he'd been bending over. "Get out of my classroom, Miss Sciuto. I won't take this behavior."

"I am an adult, Snape!" Abby stated. "I have every right to be here, and you can't order me about like you do your students." She leaned forward on his desk. "You don't scare me!"

"If you were an adult, Miss Sciuto, you'd have better control of yourself, and you'd set a better example for the students!"

"You don't care about the students!" Abby snarled. "And you have no place to talk about self control, or about acting like a mature adult! Because if you did have self control, and you were a mature adult, you wouldn't let pride get in the way of treating people equally! _Give Neville his points back!_"

Snape turned his glare onto Neville, who was trembling. He barely moved his lips as he said very quietly, "Five points to Gryffindor."

Abby's demeanor immediately changed. She loosened, smiled, and bobbed her head. "That wasn't so hard, was it?

"Neville, do you need a note to your teacher for your next class? I'm sure Professor Snape would be happy to write one for you!"

"N – no! I – I'll be fine!" Neville tripped a grand total of four times in his haste to get to the door.

Abby skipped back over to McGee and resumed examining knives. Snape's fiery gaze followed her the entire way and only left her when his next class began filing in.

* * *

By lunch, it seemed as though everyone in the school had heard about Abby's argument with Snape. Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs were all looking at the Goth with admiration while they held back chuckles as Snape strode past them. Fred and George Weasley even risked coming up to the staff table to shake Abby's hand.

"It's really great that you did that!" said Fred.

"Neville's a good kid and all – "

"But he's scared to death of Snape!"

"Yeah, Snape's been after Neville since his first day!" George spoke quietly so Snape wouldn't hear.

"Bullies him all the time."

"It really makes him feel worthless."

"Then again, that is his goal. With Neville – "

"And Harry – "

"And Ron – "

"He picks on Hermione a lot too."

"And Ginny – "

"And anyone who isn't in Slytherin…" George let his sentence hang.

"That's quite enough, Weasley, Weasley!" McGonagall snapped.

Fred and George shook Abby's hand one last time and retreated to their table.

"Wow…" Abby said dully.

"Congratulations, Abby! You're a hero!" Jenny said, smiling brightly.

"I didn't do anything impressive…"

"You did to the students. Professor Snape has a reputation for being rather biased," McGonagall said with distaste.

"Oh!" Abby exclaimed, making sense of it all. "He's the Head of Slytherin, right? So he doesn't want to take points from them because that'd be discrediting his house! That's so sneaky and underhanded!" Abby glared down the table briefly. "I'm sitting in on his classes until he identifies the poison."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Abby!" McGee voiced his concern.

"If you're scared of mean Professor Snape, Timmy, you can stay at your desk."

"I'm not scared of him; I'm scared of how far you'll push him!"

"Oh, please. I can handle myself, McGee! Snape's got his potions, but I've got my chemicals."

"Sorry, the potions just seem stronger to me. What with them being able to dissolve organs in a matter of hours and all," McGee quipped.

"But that, McGee, leaves a trace! If he pushes me too far, I can kill him and it would seem like a completely natural death. Not even Gibbs would be able to trace it back to me!"

"If you say so," McGee said under his breath. Abby punched him in the shoulder.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Targets: Acquired

Several of you have told me that I'm starting to make characters go OOC. Thank you for calling me out! I'm going over stuff and trying to fix it.

Anyway! What'd you think of this chapter? Was it what you expected? Pleasantly surprised? Unpleasantly surprised? Hey! You can tell me in a review! :)


	35. Targets: Acquired

**Targets: Acquired**

Ziva had spent every spare moment she had in the library for the past few days. If she were to be honest, she absolutely loved it. There was so much she was learning! So many things she never thought could ever be possible that, in the wizarding world, were completely normal! She was fascinated, though she wouldn't let anyone know. If she started talking, she knew she wouldn't shut up.

Opening the now familiar library door, Ziva walked through the many rows of books, picking a few interesting ones off the shelves. Finally, she walked back toward the front to the study tables.

Target: acquired. Hermione Granger sat at a table by herself, though various papers and book took up all the space.

"Excuse me," Ziva said politely, "Do my mind if I sit here?"

Hermione picked up a stack of papers off a chair and cleared a bit of space on the table. "Go right ahead," she said shortly and returned to scribbling wildly on a roll of parchment.

"What subject are you working on?"

"Transfiguration," Hermione snapped. "An essay on Animgi."

"Animagi?" Ziva had only gotten through two books on Transfiguration, and neither had said anything about Animagi.

"Witches or Wizards that can turn themselves into a specific animal at will. They're quite rare. There've only been seven in the past century." Hermione had the amazing ability to talk and concentrate on her essay at the same time.

Ziva looked at the titles of a few of the books on the table. "How many classes are you taking?"

"All the core classes, Potions, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, those sorts of things. And I'm also taking Arithmacy, Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies, Care of Magical Creatures, and Divination."

"I thought your schedules only allowed for two non-core classes?"

"I manage. Look, I really have to get this essay done!" Hermione said impatiently, finally looking up.

"I will leave you to it, then!" Ziva cheerily responded. She pulled the top book off her stack and opened it.

Hermione caught the title of the book out of the corner of her eye. "_Hogwarts: A History_? You're reading that?"

"I am about to," Ziva answered, peering over the top of the large book.

"Oh, it's such a good book! I have my own copy up in my room. It's very informational!" Hermione was so caught up now that she even put her quill down.

Ziva smiled behind the beat up pages of the book. Progress was being made. "Is it?"

"Yes! Every time I read it I pick up something new!" Hermione paused and looked somewhat confused. "Why are you reading it?"

"My boss has asked me to find out a bit more about the school," Ziva lied easily.

"Then you're on the right track!" Hermione smiled widely.

"Might I ask you something?" Ziva questioned just as Hermione picked up her quill once more. "Why are you taking Muggle Studies? I thought you were Muggle-born?"

"I am!" Hermione stated. "My parents are dentists. I'm taking Muggle Studies because it's really quite interesting to see how magical people look at them."

"Well that must be an easy 'A'."

"A?" Hermione said confusedly. "Oh! Oh! You mean 'O'! The grading system's different here at Hogwarts. We have Outstanding, Exceeds Expectations, Acceptable, Poor, Dreadful, and if you're really thick, Troll."

"Troll?"

"Goodness! I keep forgetting how little you know!

"Trolls are really stupid creatures. There are several different breeds, all of them equally aggressive. Two years ago one of the professors let a Mountain Troll in during the Halloween Feast. It nearly killed me, and Harry, and Ron," Hermione spoke so casually she might as well have been talking about what she'd eaten for breakfast.

"A teacher let a troll into the school?" Ziva asked. "Was it some sort of joke?"

"Oh, no," Hermione said as she began looking at a map of the stars, "It was a distraction to try to get at something Dumbledore was trying to hide from a very dark wizard."

"What happened to the teacher?"

"He's dead," Hermione said unemotionally, making note of something seen on the map in front of her.

Ziva was taken aback. "Dead?"

"Mmhmm. He was trying to bring the darkest wizard of the century back to power and trying to kill Harry. He nearly succeeded. We're far better off without him."

"I thought my world had problems!" Ziva scoffed and hid herself behind her book once more.

"That's not the worst of it," Hermione still spoke casually. "Last year the Chamber of Secrets was opened for the first time in fifty years, and before that, since it was created."

"Chamber of Secrets?"

"Oh, surely in your month here you've heard something about it?" Hermione looked up from her chart.

"Only that there was a student attacking basilisk in it."

"It wasn't a student attacking basilisk! It was a Muggle-born attacking basilisk. …Do you even know what a basilisk is?"

"No," Ziva said slowly.

Hermione began her story. First Ziva was informed of what a basilisk was, then the legend of the Chamber of Secrets, and from there, the thrilling tale of how eleven year old Ginny Weasley was possessed and kidnapped and how she was rescued by twelve year old Harry Potter, who killed the basilisk and nearly killed himself in the process. Hermione also told the tale of Gilderoy Lockhart, one of the biggest frauds ever to breathe.

"Harry Potter seems to get himself into danger quite a bit," Ziva commented.

"No, danger usually finds him!" Hermione countered. "Take Sirius Black, for example, he –" Hermione stopped short and began shoving things into her schoolbag. "I've got to go. It's almost curfew!"

Ziva looked after Hermione's retreating figure, an eyebrow raised. She really hated cliffhangers. What had Sirius Black done?

Sighing, Ziva stood and gathered her own books. She noticed a tail twitching. A quick look under the table showed a tabby cat staring at her. Ziva reached out a hand to scratch the cat behind the ears, but it hissed and slinked away. The Israeli shrugged and left the library.

* * *

Anthony DiNozzo roamed the halls a good two hours after all the students were supposed to be in bed. "_Third night's the charm, Tony!"_ he told himself. He'd been searching for Fred and George. They couldn't possibly run from him forever.

All he had to do was catch them doing something and suggest a way to improve the prank, if he could. And if that fell through, he'd ask how it worked. The Weasleys were wizards, after all. They were bound to have a few more tricks up their sleeves than Tony did.

Tony found himself down by where he knew the door to the Slytherin common room was. He looked at the wall with annoyance. Behind it were one hundred fifty sleeping Slytherins, all of them equally annoying.

"Come on, George! If I were doing it I'd've been done by now!"

"Shut up, Fred! Not all the Slytherins are as stupid as Crabbe and Goyle! They'll hear us and make sense of it!"

Tony grinned. He turned around and retraced his steps.

Fred and George looked up from the ground at Tony. "I'd recommend getting on the other side of us," Fred said.

"What are you doing?" Tony asked, beginning to walk towards them.

"Trying to give Malfoy a real injury," George said casually, turning his attention to the ground once more.

"Who?"

"Blonde kid, thinks really highly of himself… Officer David 'nearly ripped his arm off' the other day?" Fred said, expecting a light to go on in Tony's head.

"Oh, him!" Tony exclaimed, pretending he had a clue. It worked.

"Yeah, well, before Officer David did that he got his arm scratched by a hippogriff. Madam Pomfery probably healed it in two seconds, but he's been going about the school with inch thick bandages, saying he's in mortal peril. He's the Slytherin Seeker in Quidditch, and their team's using his supposed injury as excuse to not play Gryffindor in the rain!" Fred stated heatedly.

"Quidditch?" Tony asked, baffled.

Fred and George gasped.

"You don't know about Quidditch?" Fred asked with horror.

"Uh… no…"

"It's only the best game in the world!" George said with the sarcastic attitude of it not being a big deal.

"Oh…" Fred suddenly smacked himself in the forehead. "Muggle!"

"Ah, true. I suppose Muggles don't see people flying on brooms…" George said thoughtfully.

"Hey, you can come to our practice tomorrow!" Fred said brightly. "We won't be out on the field the first couple of minutes. We can explain the game to you!"

"And we've got our first match on Saturday!" George said happily. "But I'm sure McGonagall's invited you all to that?"

"Uh…"

Fred smiled. "Well we're inviting you!"

"Done!" George exclaimed, getting off his knees. "Anyway, practice is just before dinner. Just keep a watch on the pitch, you'll see us flying around!"

"We've got to be off before…" Fred let his sentence hang. He stared past Tony. "Norris!" he breathed.

"Run for it!" George suggested. He and his brother took off at full speed.

Tony turned and looked at the cat sitting at the end of the hallway. It looked like it was glaring at him. His lip twitched. He didn't like cats.

The creature at the end of the hallway didn't move a muscle and continued to stare at Tony until he was out of sight. It then walked over to where he, Fred, and George had been to examine the floor.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Quidditch Practice

You know... I considered cutting this chapter out... Oh well. It's up, it's staying, deal with it. The plot kicks up again (hopefully for good) in just a couple of chapters here. I'll be nice and tell you the name of the chapter after the next... Chapter 37 - High Speedy Chase. Are you happy? Yes, I will try to update quickly.

Review, please!


	36. Quidditch Practice

**Quidditch Practice**

It was pouring. Torrents of rain hit the Great Hall window during breakfast. If it was any louder, it'd drown out all conversation. Other than that, however, the day would be a completely normal one.

Abby planned on sitting in on all the potions classes collecting more knives and ensuring fairness. McGee would be with her, attempting to keep Snape from killing Abby, or vice versa.

Ziva would be in the library, reading everything she possibly could, and would likely be joined by Ducky and Jimmy. Unbeknownst to Ziva at the time, Tony would be accompanying her to the library to see if he could find anything on Quidditch so he would not feel like a complete idiot at practice later that day.

Gibbs, Fornell, and the recently released from the hospital wing Colonel Mann would continue to run into dead ends trying to discover the killer's identity.

Classes would go on as usual… all of them except potions, at least. Students were rather looking forward to the class, hoping to perhaps see a showdown between Abby and their extremely unhappy professor.

Snape stood up from the table and began heading towards the door. Abby stood up, pulled McGee with her, and followed Snape out, a bounce in her step. Students watched her skip out the doors and moved around in their seats to try to keep her in sights as long as possible.

"Abby's quite the celebrity now a days!" Tony commented.

"Perhaps it will come in handy," Ziva suggested as she threw her bag over her shoulder. Tony got up as well. "Where are you going, DiNozzo?"

"With you, David!"

"Why?"

"Is it wrong for one to go to the library?"

"We are talking about you, Tony, not a normal person. You, who have not finished a book since he was seven, are going to go to the library of your own accord?" She turned and started on her way out.

"For your information, Officer David, I've gone to the library several times of my own will!" Tony called as he hurried after her.

"Really? What was her name?" Ziva asked with a chuckle.

Jenny turned toward the remainder of the team and said to Ducky, "I thought you were going to the library too?"

"We will," Ducky said, gesturing to himself and Jimmy, "but I thought we'd stop by Professor Snape's to see if he had anything new, first."

"He's left for his office, Ducky."

"I know, but this breakfast is simply delicious!" he admitted. "I haven't had this kind of food since Mother and I moved to the States!"

"Ducky…"

Ducky sighed heavily. "Very well. As the Director demands. Come along, Mr. Palmer."

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Born in Scotland, educated in England, traveled the world, moved to America. I guess a man can have food of every kind and will still prefer his home cooking," she commented to herself. She could see the McGonagall was distracted and hardly listening. Jenny pretended to take great interest in the enchanted ceiling (which she was now rather used to) and waited. Surely it wouldn't be long… the woman was almost bursting at the seams…

"Why are you letting Agent Gibbs and his team do this?" McGonagall asked suddenly. Jenny worked hard to keep her smile at bay. "Honestly, they're only children, what help will they be? I don't like the idea of you _using_ them!"

"It's _only a child_ that's brought all of this on, Professor," Jenny pointed out. "They can be as much of a help as the culprit has been a hindrance. Students know more about what's going on with other students than teachers know what's going on with students. Fred, George, Harry, Ron, and Hermione will be able to tell us if anyone's been acting out of sorts.

"And I would deny that we're using them, but that'd be a lie. However, we won't treat them like trash. They are human beings with emotions and we'll treat them as such. And if not, you have my permission to curse Gibbs into whatever time period you'd like," Jenny wrapped up with a broad grin.

McGonagall raised an eyebrow, but Jenny could see it was a substitute for smiling.

* * *

After hours of reading about Quidditch, Tony felt like he had a rather strong grip on its concept. He was actually excited to go down to see the Gryffindors practice. However, he was, after all, a professional. Tony DiNozzo had to keep control of himself and play it cool.

Tony would have played his 'keeping cool' part fantastically if he hadn't been sitting in front of a window for half an hour staring out at the grounds. He would have been more convincing still if he hadn't leapt three feet into the air when figures with brooms slung over their shoulders trouped across the muddy grounds.

The full grown man shoved his NCIS hat onto his head and shrugged on his jacket, not taking notice of the woman across the bull pen following suite.

Ziva followed Tony all the way down to the Entrance Hall before he noticed.

"What are you doing, David?!"

"Going with you, DiNozzo! Potter plays."

"So?"

"So I am going to go watch and learn. This is part of my assignment, Tony!" Ziva smiled annoyingly.

Tony exhaled before turning around and throwing open one of the doors. He took two steps out into the almost solid sheet of water falling from the sky. "Well this is just great!" he shouted over the noise. "Two steps and I'm already soaked!"

Ziva stepped out into the rain as well. She opened her mouth and tilted her head back briefly. "It is only a bit of rain, Tony! I am sure you will survive!" she said loudly as she headed towards the Quidditch Pitch, Tony at her heels.

The Pitch was enormous with stands rising high into the sky. On either side were three hoops resembling bubble wands. Seven red blurs were flying around the field together, warming up.

As Tony and Ziva made their way to a pair of seats, two red robes flew straight towards them and took seats on either side of them as the rest of the team flew to different positions on the field.

"Wood's teaching the chasers a couple of new moves!" Fred shouted over the rain hitting the bleachers as he propped his broom against his knee.

"He doesn't want the bludgers in quite yet!" George explained as he slicked back his wet hair.

"Bludgers are the black ones that try to knock people off their brooms, right?" Tony asked loudly.

"Look at that, George! He's been doing his research!"

"It makes me proud, Fred!"

"What about you, Officer David?"

"I did a bit of reading," Ziva said. "But I do not understand the points!"

"Points!" Fred exclaimed. "Quite simple, really!"

"The chasers throw the Quaffle around and try to get it past the other team's Keeper into one of the hoops!" George said.

"Every time they get it through the hoop is ten points to their team!" Fred elaborated.

"And the Seeker – "

"That's Harry up there!"

"Tries to find the Snitch. If he catches it before the other Seeker, he gets 150 points!"

"The catching of the Snitch ends the game!"

Ziva nodded and turned to watch the practice. She looked up to see Harry Potter flying around in no particular pattern. She doubted whether he could see anything with his glasses.

"Poor Harry's going to have a tough time at the match on Saturday!" Fred told Tony.

"He's blind with or without his glasses in this weather!" George said sadly, shaking his head.

A third figure flew over by the stands.

"Fred!" shouted the figure, "George! I've been calling you for three minutes!"

"Sorry, Oliver!" Fred called back.

"We can hardly hear you now!"

"And what are _they_ doing here?" snapped the figure dubbed Oliver.

"They're Muggles, Oliver! Haven't a clue as to what's going on!"

"Do you really think they're going to go tell the Hufflepuffs all our fancy moves?"

Oliver scowled, but seemed to think Fred and George had a fair point. Either way, he told them to get back on their brooms and then flew off to circle his three fifty-foot high hoops.

"Oliver Wood's captain of our team," Fred offered.

"It's his last year here and if Gryffindor doesn't win the Quidditch Cup he might just kill himself!" George said dramatically as he and his brother mounted their brooms.

"Watch – "

"And Enjoy!"

The twins kicked off the stands and flew into the air. They dove to the ground and came back up with bats in their hands. Two black balls now flew around the field as well, though they were extremely hard to see through the sheets of rain.

"What do you think, Tony?" Ziva asked after a while.

"I think this would be a lot better without the rain!" Tony answered sourly. "I'm soaked to the bone!"

"Oh look!" Ziva exclaimed, pointing at the red blurs, "They are landing!"

"Finally!"

The seven Grffyindors were indeed coming back down to the earth. Well… five of them. The Weasley twins flew over to Tony and Ziva.

"We've got to change into our school robes – "

"So we can get those dripping wet, as well – "

"And then we'll walk back to the castle with you!"

Fred and George turned around and flew down into the open doors of the locker room.

"I think Saturday will be very interesting," Ziva said as she and Tony climbed down the stands.

"If we can see anything, yeah!" Tony took shelter under a very small awning and shook his head like a dog. Water flew from his hair, but it was still dripping wet when he stopped.

Deciding silence was probably the best option available with Tony being in such a surly mood, Ziva stayed out in the rain and waited for the locker room door to open once more.

At long last, the door opened and out of it came Oliver Wood, Potter, Fred, George, and three girls whose names Ziva didn't know. The Gryffindors met up with Tony and Ziva and the lot began their way back to the castle.

"Muggles, eh?" said Wood. He was walking beside Tony and Ziva, watching them carefully as if they'd try to run off and blab Gryffindor's tactics to everyone. Ziva took notice of the fact that he kept his hand in his pocket, likely gripping his wand. "How's work going?"

"Fine," Ziva answered.

"Got any suspects?"

"Mr. Wood, I am not at liberty to tell you any details about my work," Ziva said firmly.

"Well, I hope you catch the culprit soon. Penelope Clearwater was in my year. I don't want to see any of my other friends go the same way as her."

"We are doing all that we can to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Quit being a downer, Oliver!" Fred called.

"Yeah, talk about something more upbeat!" George suggested.

"What'd you think of your first Quidditch experience?" Fred asked Tony, coming up beside him.

"Why are you playing in the rain?" Tony answered one question with another.

"Neither rain – "

"Nor snow – "

"Nor hail – "

"Nor being sick – "

"Nor the end of the world as we know it –"

"Keeps Quidditch at bay!"

Fred and George gave identical grins.

"How do you control the brooms?" Ziva inquired.

"Just turn the handle the way you want the broom to go!"

"Yeah, it's real simple."

"The better the broom, the easier it is to turn, isn't it, Harry?" Fred asked, turning around to face a black-haired boy with glasses.

"I dunno," Harry admitted. "I've only flown on my Nimbus, really…"

"Harry's got one of the best brooms out there," George said with a twinge of envy.

The group now stood in front of the castle doors.

"Alright," Wood said, stepping up to face everyone. "We're all covered in mud, so we've got to hurry back to our dorms or Filch will catch us. I don't want anyone getting thrown into detention!" Wood pointedly looked at the Weasley twins before opening the door. He stuck his head in, looked both ways, opened the door wider, and ran out of sight. The rest of his team followed behind him.

Tony and Ziva went in after the team and felt as if they had to run too. Ziva looked behind herself to see a trail of darker carpet and flecks of mud. She understood why running was necessary. Filch was the Hogwarts caretaker. He'd have to clean up.

The two grown adults ran into their headquarters and slammed the door behind them. Tony took off his shoes and dumped the water onto the ground. Ziva began wringing out her hair.

"What happened to you two?" Professor McGonagall asked. Oddly enough she was the only person in the room.

Tony swore. "Did we miss dinner?"

"Your colleagues went down to the kitchens to get their meal. Now what happened?"

"We went to watch Quidditch practice, Professor!" Ziva supplied as she took off her jacket. "The Weasley twins invited Tony and I snagged along." She grabbed towel that had appeared beside her and dried off her face and hands.

"Tagged. And I'm going to change," Tony declared, stalking off to get a new suit.

Ziva was wringing her hair again. She suddenly stopped and her hand went to her pocket. She pulled out her phone, then said something foreign. "TONY!" she shouted, causing McGonagall to jump. "IS YOUR PHONE WORKING?"

Tony's response came from behind a door on the other side of the room. It was only a swear word.

Ziva sighed as she looked at her now useless phones. "Electronics do not get along with water," she explained.

Ziva walked into the bull pen and opened a drawer in the filing cabinet next to Tony's desk. Professor McGonagall caught a glimpse of several boxes, all with a picture of a cell phone on it. Ziva pulled out one of the boxes and opened it, talking as she worked. "Gibbs does not get along well with electronics, either. He tends to break his phone several times a month. We have these for easy replacement."

McGonagall watched as Ziva took the backs off both phones, pulled a chip out of the broken one, and put it in the new one. She turned the new phone on and smiled as the screen flashed. The Israeli pulled out a second box and left it on the desk, threw out her now useless phone, and went to change.

Minutes later, the two agents went down to the kitchens, where (unbeknownst to them) they would get their first sight of house elves.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - High Speedy Chase

I'm hungry, I'm tired, and I have to get ready for a dance. I have no witty comment to give.

Review anyway! :)


	37. High Speedy Chase

**High Speedy Chase**

After another day or so, the team was informed by Professor Snape that the potion that had killed Penelope Clearwater was 'Inside Melter' which was apparently a very common way to kill in the Dark Ages. Abby found it fascinating.

The news had the opposite effect on Gibbs. He'd been clinging to the hope that maybe Abby had made a mistake somehow. That it really had been an acid or some other chemical that had killed Penelope. But, no. Professor Snape had confirmed his fear. There was someone else murdering their classmates. The team's workload was now doubled.

The only thing keeping Gibbs from going completely ballistic was the knives. Abby now had all 637 knives from the students and was checking them all for the presence of human blood. It was possible that they would soon have a very solid lead for the majority of the killings.

In the mean time, the agents were getting ready to go watch the first Quidditch game of the season: Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff. Tony was explaining the rules of the game to Ducky, Jimmy, and McGee while Gibbs, Jenny, Fornell, Colonel Mann, and Ziva kept their minds on the case.

Professor McGonagall walked into the room. "Is everyone ready to go?"

"Yes!" Tony said immediately. He threw on his jacket, as did several other people.

"Are you coming, Agent Fornell?"

"No," Fornell answered. "It seems as though Diane, my ex-wife and Gibbs' - " Professor McGonagall scowled briefly, "- visited my office and found out where I was. She's demanded that I meet her for dinner. Apparently, I've forgotten to pay her for something." Fornell sighed and spun his chair to face his computer.

"I was under the impression that your whereabouts were currently top secret," McGonagall said, raising an eyebrow.

"Diane's a witch," Fornell stated, raising his eyes to look the teacher in the eye. "And a control freak. Put the two together and you can figure out a few things she might have done."

"That's a breach of – "

"She knows. And she doesn't care."

"Sounds just like Diane," Gibbs said nonchalantly as he headed towards the door.

Professor McGonagall frowned. She disapproved of this witch very much. In any case, she led the way out of the room and down to the front doors.

"Doctor Mallard, Mr. Palmer, if you'd like to actually see the game, you might want to let me borrow your glasses for a moment."

"Uh…" Jimmy said confusedly.

"It's raining, Mr. Palmer. Quite a bit, actually."

"Um… Alright…" Jimmy took off his glasses and handed them to the professor She merely tapped them with her wand and handed them back, then repeated the process with Ducky's glasses and her own before actually stepping outside into the rain.

"Good Lord!" Ducky exclaimed. "How do they plan to play anything in rain like this?"

"Why aren't my glasses getting wet?" Jimmy asked. He took them off his face and put them back on as if it would fix the 'problem'.

The group made it to the pitch and sat with the rest of the teachers who had chanced a trip in the rain.

Though the game was hard to see, it was still fairly exciting. Tony, who had attended practices all week, happily explained anything that confused anyone. He'd taken a strong liking to the most popular wizard game.

Things began happening rather suddenly. The pitch seemed darker and colder than it had been before, though the rain hadn't gotten any heavier.

"Oh no…" McGonagall breathed as several other people gasped.

"What's going on?" Tony said with gritted teeth. He had his hands over his ears, as if trying to block out sound.

"Dementors," McGonagall said simply. She looked over her shoulder, behind the pitch. "Oh, goodness."

Gibbs felt far more miserable than he had in years. Various scenes flashed before him.

_A gun shot rang, and the woman in front of him fell to the ground, a puddle of blood beginning to develop under her head._

_A man in Gibbs' own basement holding his old Marine sniper rifle pointed it at its owner, ready to pull the trigger as he taunted. _

"_They're both dead, Gunny. I'm sorry," said an emotionless voice. _

Gibbs couldn't help it. He let out a scream and plugged his own ears. The voices didn't stop, neither did the scenes.

And as suddenly as it had started, everything stopped, and just in time. Gibbs had been a second off from passing out. The scene in front of him became clear, and Gibbs realized something was very wrong.

Professor McGonagall was clambering over her coworkers and the agents, rushing to get down from the stands and onto the field. Professor Dumbledore, who Gibbs hadn't ever seen show any trace of anger, was looking absolutely furious. And then there was something on the ground. A something in dark red robes and with black hair.

"What happened?" Gibbs asked dazedly.

"I don't know!" Jenny said beside him. She too seemed fairly off.

"How could you miss that?" Professor Sprout screeched, also looking angrier than Gibbs had ever seen. "Dementors! Those _things_ aren't supposed to be on the grounds!"

"What are dementors?" Gibbs snapped irritably.

"They are creatures that feed off of happy memories, leaving only bad ones behind," Ziva offered. "Muggles cannot see them. They are _supposed_ to guard the wizard prison!" she said this in an accusing manner to Professor Sprout, as if it were her fault.

"They're guarding the exits of the school, currently!" Sprout huffed.

"Why?!"

"Because of Sirius Black!"

"Who is Sirius – "

"GIBBS!" Abby shouted, bouncing in her seat. If it was possible, she looked paler than usual, but if anything else was off it was covered by her ear-to-ear grin as she stared at her cell phone screen. "I set things up so I would get updates of test results sent to my phone and – well, look!" She held the phone out to Gibbs.

The man took a minute to read the small writing. "Isn't that –"

"Yup," Abby answered before Gibbs finished.

"What's going on?" Professor Sprout asked sharply.

"We may have found our culprit!" Abby said joyously as the agents all stood up and began their exit.

"_WHAT_? Who?"

"I am not at liberty to say until said person is in custody!" Abby was bouncing in her seat, a grin still plastered on her face. She whispered to Ducky, who whispered to Jimmy.

Down on the field, the boy announced to be Harry Potter was being floated out on a stretcher by Madam Pomfery.

"What happened to the poor boy?" Ducky asked with concern.

"He fell off his broom… I think," Abby said uncertainly. "I can't really be sure. I don't think I was really seeing clearly…"

"I certainly wasn't!" Ducky took off his glasses and rubbed them on his soaked shirt, doing more damage than good.

"Look!" Abby exclaimed, pointing at the field. "They're leaving! Gibbs'll get him! Ducky! We'll – " Abby suddenly looked extremely downcast. "We'll have to go back to D.C."

"There, there, Abigail!" Ducky comforted, patting her shoulder. "You'll always be able to remember."

The teachers started leaving the stands. Abby, Ducky, and Jimmy left with them and followed them out to the Hogwarts grounds.

Gibbs, Jenny, Tony, Ziva, McGee and Colonel Mann walked together in a half casual formation, though they looked ready to kill. Students gave them a wide birth.

Gibbs' keen eye spotted their target: a tall boy in yellow Quidditch robes with a broom slung over his shoulder. "DIGGORY!" he shouted as loud as he could.

Cedric Diggory froze. As the agents moved toward him, the crowd around him thinned and then gave him a wide radius of space. He looked as if he were fighting with himself. It seemed as though he were pushing against some invisible force as he swung a leg over his broom and kicked off into the air.

"Damn!" Gibbs shouted. He threw his hat to the muddy ground and looked up at the ascending student murderously.

"Hold on, Boss!" Tony shouted. He took off into the crowd.

"_What is going on here?_" snapped Professor McGonagall, stomping up to the agents, Professor Sprout with her. "The match is over! Why is Diggory on his broom?"

"Diggory," Gibbs said with venom, "is escaping."

"Why would he need to escape?" Sprout said suspiciously.

"Because his life is over the moment we catch him!"

Before the teachers could inquire further, Tony stumbled back over, a broom in each hand. He handed one to Gibbs. "Just like driving, Boss! Ziva, on back! You're shooting, I'm steering." He mounted the broom, and Ziva got on behind him. Tony kicked off and hovered a few feet into the air.

After observing, Gibbs got onto his broom and kicked off, as well. With the broom a mere two feet off the ground, Colonel Mann jumped on the back and drew her weapon from its holster.

"McGee, Jenny, get all the kids inside now! DiNozzo, David, Colonel, I want him _alive_!" Gibbs shouted as he climbed into the air. Tony followed him.

Professor McGonagall spluttered, unable to form a sentence out of confusion and shock and disbelief.

"Pansy Parkinson's blood was on Diggory's potions knife, Professors!" Jenny said loudly over the heavy rain. "We need to get all the students inside now, or he might take one of them hostage!"

"_Cedrid Diggory, a killer_?" Sprout managed to say. "That can't be! He's a – "

"Evidence doesn't lie, Professor! People lie!" McGee yelled. He wiped the rain off his eyelids and looked around at the crowd of students stopping to watch Gibbs, the Colonel, Tony, and Ziva climbing into the air searching for Diggory.

Neither of the professors seemed anywhere near moving. Jenny took charge. She strode over to the students with a confident air and ordered them to get into the castle. Her demeanor clearly told the students that if they didn't heed the order, there'd be consequences. They grudgingly resumed their journey to the castle.

Teachers were drawn to the scene and, as opposed to the students, Jenny knew there'd be no making them move. With the majority of the students back inside the castle, Jenny turned her attention to the chase that was becoming easier to see as the rain lessened slightly. However, that was all she noticed. She blocked out all sounds and smells and concentrated on her agents, her coworkers, flying through the air.

Jenny gasped in horror. Ziva turned sideways and fell off the back of the broom. She had a long way to fall…

Half-way through her fall, however, Ziva drew her arms in and her legs together. She hit the ground with a dull _thud_ and allowed herself to fall and roll before popping back up. She spun around a few times before sprinting to her right.

"Tim!" Jenny said urgently. McGee turned around to look at his director. "Go with her!" McGee ran off.

In the same fashion as Ziva, Gibbs fell off the front of his broom. He landed in the same style, as well. As opposed to Ziva, when he stood up he looked skyward.

"Gibbs!" Ziva shouted as she ran towards him, a broom in either of her hands. She handed one to him, and they kicked off, moving far faster with one person on a broom rather than two.

McGee, gasping for breath, came back over to Jenny's side. "They didn't have a chance of getting him going that slow. Two people on a broom doesn't seem to work. Ziva shot the lock of the broom shed and… well, there you go."

Jenny was so focused and worried that she only heard McGee's voice and not any of the teachers' gasps or questions. _"I don't want to bring anyone home in a box!" _was all that was on her mind. She became more stressed still when Diggory flew even higher into the air. Proper landing wouldn't matter anymore. A fall from that height… Jenny shook her head. She didn't want to think about it.

The four airborne agents made mad swipes at Diggory from various angles and at various speeds. At the same time it seemed to have some sort of an odd rhythm. Then, quite suddenly, they all flew off up into the raining clouds and out of sight.

Cedric Diggory seemed to relax. He descended a bit and circled, looking below him. There wasn't a chance he'd risk landing amidst all the teachers… no, he'd have to make a break for the school boundaries. But the dementors. Well, he reasoned with himself, surely the dementors wouldn't know yet!

Diggory began flying in the direction of the school gate. Seemingly out of no where came another flying figure. The blonde hair told those on the ground that it was Colonel Mann. She sped towards her target, almost flat on the broom she rode.

Diggory continued flying at the boundaries, but he suddenly stopped. After a brief moment of confusion, he turned and flew over the Colonel.

Almost to the same spot Diggory had been, right over the gates, Colonel Mann pulled her broom over her. It had the desired effect. She had switched directions with her flip, once again on Diggory's tail. She pulled herself back upright and somehow managed to get neck-and-neck with her prey.

From the clouds came three other fliers. Tony flew on the opposite side of Diggory, while Ziva flew above him and Gibbs below. The only option Diggory had available was to press on forward.

As the chase reached what had to be top speed, Ziva jumped from her broom and fell a short distance. Her ending position was not the one she'd been aiming for. She hung from Diggory's broom with one hand. Gibbs flew directly under her, ready in the event that she fell. Ziva managed to heave the rest of herself onto the broom. She reached into Diggory's pocket, grabbed his wand, and then let it fall to the earth. To end it, Ziva pulled out her gun and pushed it into the back of the boy's head. "Down to the ground," she snarled.

"No!" Diggory shouted. He began trying to buck Ziva off the back of his broom, but she held steady. Tired of the boy being uncooperative, Ziva took aim and pulled the trigger. She hit her target. The very tip of Diggory's ear began bleeding and he swore.

"I will not be so kind next time!" Ziva shouted. "Land!"

Reluctance clear, Cedric Diggory began flying downward. Gibbs, Tony, and Colonel Mann kept their formation as they descended.

The group landed. Ziva kept her gun poised, ready to hit Diggory in the back. "Hands up!" she shouted.

He obeyed and Tony slapped handcuffs on him and started shoving him forward. "You're in a _hell_ of a lot of trouble, kid!"

Cedric Diggory was pushed into the castle, looking extremely miserable and pitiful.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - An Unwelcomed Twist

Oh, heavens! What will happen next? Only I know! :)

I looooove reviews!


	38. An Unwelcomed Twist

**An Unwelcomed Twist**

Before Gibbs could mentally beat the crap out of Diggory, he was forced to 'talk' to one Professor Pomona Sprout, who was beside herself with fury. The argument involved several phrases and exclamations coming from the mouth of the professor that Gibbs didn't think were possible, and ended with Gibbs having to dodge a couple of jinxes. He would surely have been hit if saving grace in the form of Albus Dumbledore hadn't intervened.

Now angrier than he had been before, Gibbs entered the interrogation room, insisting on going alone. Jenny had tried her hardest to get him to take someone with him for fear that Gibbs would kill Diggory.

Gibbs slammed the door, the slammed himself down into his seat. His face was still red and blotchy, but his eyes had returned to normal. "Your teachers really care about you, Cedric," he said in a surprisingly normal voice. "Did you know that?"

Cedric Diggory shrugged.

"You're a bastard." Gibbs' eyes returned to looking they way they had when he'd been shouting at Professor Sprout.

Diggory's eyes snapped up to meet Gibbs'.

"Your teachers and fellow classmates trust you, and you've betrayed them all. Tell me that's not a bastardly thing to do!"

"How'd I betray them, _sir_?"

"You tell me!"

"I didn't! I wouldn't!"

"You did!" Gibbs pulled something out of his pocket and slammed it onto the table.

"My potions knife! Can I have it back?"

Behind the glass, Jenny tensed. "Who let him bring a weapon in there?" she asked through gritted teeth, looking around the rather crowded observation room.

"You can have it back once you tell me how Pansy Parkinson's blood got on it!" Gibbs snarled.

"I don't see anything on there!" Diggory said haughtily.

"Something's not right," Professor Sprout said slowly. "That can't be Cedric…"

"No, smart kid like you, you cleaned it once you finished with it." Gibbs picked up the knife.

"I didn't kill Pansy!" Diggory said quickly.

"Really? How about Gavin McDonald?" Gibbs opened a file and slid a picture in front of Diggory of a boy lying on the ground, two holes in his chest. "And you're sure you didn't kill Pansy Parkinson?" Gibbs laid out another picture of a girl lying in a crimson pool with clean cut lines going down her arms. "Or Roger Davies?" Gibbs put down the picture of a boy blankly staring up. "Or maybe you only killed one person. Penelope Clearwater?" Gibbs opened a different file and laid out a picture of a girl on the Great Hall floor, her blonde curls stained the same color red as her lips and chin.

Cedric suddenly looked as if he were pushing against an invisible force once more. "I wouldn't –"

"Explain," Gibbs shouted, "why Parkinson's blood is on your knife!"

"It's not!"

Gibbs picked up the knife once more and pointed to where the blade met the handle. "You missed a spot when you were cleaning up."

Diggory only looked at the knife. His breathing began to speed up.

"Maybe I should let you talk to the victims you left alive," Gibbs suggested. He pulled out another two pictures. One of a bruised and battered Lavender Brown and another of a bloodied and unconscious Samantha Madley.

"I didn't do anything to them!"

"You raped Lavender and you would have done the same to Samantha if we hadn't stepped in!"

"I didn't!"

"Do you know all the lives you've screwed up? All the parents that are crying themselves to sleep because their child is dead? Do you know how tormented they are? Do you know what's going on in the mind of Lavender Brown right now? Do you know that the only thing going through her mind is the most horrible night of her life over and over again? Do you know how confused Samantha Madley is? How badly she wants to go be with all her friends? Do you know how crazy you've been driving me and my colleagues? Do you know how that your teachers, who have been trying to protect you and keep you safe, are sick with worry? They've been entrusted with their students' lives, and they feel like they're failing every parent out there. _Do you see what you've done?!"_ Gibbs didn't realize that he'd stood up and was currently towering over Cedric.

"Do one decent thing." Gibbs wasn't requesting, he was demanding. "Confess and tell me why!"

Cedric Diggory tried to speak, but began choking instead. Gibbs made no move to help him. Instead, he locked the door and leaned against it as someone frantically tried to get in.

"I didn't want – to kill – anyone!" Diggory gasped.

Gibbs looked at him carefully. Something was definitely wrong, and it wasn't Cedric's choking. He could breathe just fine. He simply couldn't get the words out.

Diggory's eyes suddenly darkened and he stopped choking. A horrible look in his eye, he grabbed the knife Gibbs had left on the table and approached the other human in the room. "Leave me alone!" He sounded as if he were possessed. His voice was just as dark as his eyes.

Gibbs stood his ground. Diggory swung the knife at him. The blade got stuck in the door and Diggory couldn't pull it back out.

Quite suddenly, he changed again. His eyes returned to normal, as did his voice. "I'm sorry!" he said frantically. "He made – " He changed again.

Gibbs readied himself for another attack.

"Unlock the door, Jethro!" Jenny screamed.

Gibbs wasn't done yet, and he wasn't about to put his coworkers at risk. He had to take care of Diggory himself.

"Leave me _alone_!" Diggory repeated, sounding demonic once again.

Gibbs dodged a punch and refrained from throwing one back. He wanted to figure out what was going on.

Diggory switched again. He spoke quickly. "He made me poison her!" he shouted. "I can't – throw – it off!"

With a roar, Cedric changed once more, now more aggressive than he'd been before. He threw his fist at Gibbs once, twice, and a third.

Enough was enough. Gibbs physically deflected the fourth punch, grabbed Diggory's arm, and forced it behind his back and shoved him against a wall. At the same moment, the door burst off its hinges and the room was filled with people who had wands or guns drawn.

Cedric relaxed a bit, his fit was over for the time being.

"Who made you do it?" Gibbs hissed in the boy's ear.

"I don't know!" Cedric answered. He sounded as though his nose were plugged.

"Then how'd they make you do it?" Cedric didn't respond. Gibbs shook him and asked again, "Tell me how they forced you!"

Cedric opened his mouth, but instead of talking, he started choking again.

"Jethro, let him go!" the Director commanded. She cautiously walked across the room, her gun still poised and ready to shoot.

Diggory began making violent attempts to get free of his captor.

"Yeah," Gibbs said with a wince as he tried to keep Diggory pinned. "I'll let him go while he's in the mood to kill! Good suggestion, Director!"

"I'll hurt you!" said Diggory's demented voice. "You'll regret messing with me! Do you want a second Kate episode?"

Gibbs re-slammed Diggory into the wall. "Threatening my people isn't a good idea!" he said dangerously.

"I keep my word!"

"DiNozzo! Cuff him!" Gibbs ordered harshly.

Tony carefully approached and got cuffs onto the flailing boy. Gibbs released his arm and instead pinned him to the wall by his shoulders. Tony redrew his gun and kept it pointed at Diggory.

Confusing Gibbs even more, Diggory suddenly relaxed.

"I can't fight it off!" Cedric repeated. He sounded tired.

"Minerva," said Dumbledore quite calmly considering the situation, "call Alastor. I believe we are in need of his services." McGonagall left and Dumbledore turned to Sprout. "I believe Mr. and Mrs. Diggory should be aware of what's going on. Let them know he's been put under the Imperius. And I think it'd be best if we let Mr. Diggory be for now," he finished and exited the interrogation room.

"What's the Imperius?" Tony asked as he held the door open for his colleagues and quickly shut it after Jenny dragged Gibbs out.

"Perhaps you can explain, Officer David?" Dumbledore suggested, looking at the Israeli over his half-moon glasses.

"I only know that it is an Unforgivable, yes?" Ziva said.

"Correct!" Dumbledore confirmed. He turned towards Jenny and Gibbs. "The Imperius Curse is one of three curses that is simply not tolerated. Using it or the Cruciatus Curse or the Avada Kedavra is a one-way ticket to Azkaban." In response to the confused looks he was receiving, he elaborated. "Azkaban is the Wizards' prison."

"What does the Imperius do, Professor?" Jenny asked.

"If done well, the Imperius will allow the caster to control the mind of the one he or she cast it on. The caster can make their victim do anything they please."

Gibbs sighed inwardly. If the killer could cast the Imperius, the team might as well pack up and head back to D.C., because there was no way they'd every be able to catch him.

"However," Dumbledore continued, "we are very fortunate in this case. Cedric is a very strong wizard. He has already begun to fight the Imperius. Which, I might add, was not cast anywhere near as well as it could have been."

"You mean he can fight it off completely?" McGee asked hopefully.

"Yes, he can, Agent McGee. However, he may need some coaching, which is why I've sent for Mr. Moody."

"Moody?" Tony queried. "Wasn't he on the plane?"

"Yes, he was," Dumbledore answered. "You won't be able to find a better person than Alastor Moody to deal with the Dark Arts. Might I sit down?"

"You can sit at my desk," Gibbs offered, hardly taken aback by Dumbledore's unfitting request. He looked around. "Tobias isn't back yet?"

"No," Jenny said. "Diane pulled him away, remember?"

"Conversations with Diane are one-sided and don't take long," said Gibbs. He took off and headed up the stairs to MTAC.

"Where is Agent Fornell?" Dumbledore asked quite casually.

"He's taking care of a bit of business," Tony answered as he headed to his own desk. "Probie!" he barked. "Observe our suspect!"

"I will watch Diggory," Ziva volunteered. She turned around and went back into the observation room.

Jenny took Ziva's chair as McGee sat down in his own.

Colonel Mann sat at her own desk, though without anything to do for the time being, continued to question Dumbledore. "What do the Cruciatus Curse and the Avada Kedavra do?"

Dumbledore had a look on his face as if just coming back from being somewhere completely different. "I would have though Professor Lupin would have told you about them long ago! They were used so often when he was in school."

"He didn't like talking about the war much," Colonel Mann admitted.

"The war?" Tony's attention was caught.

"Yes, Agent DiNozzo," Dumbledore said heavily. "The war. It is a painful business I prefer to avoid talking about. So much and so many were lost.

"Back to your question, Colonel, I think it best if you weren't aware of them. I sincerely doubt they will be a problem during this investigation."

"Well I'm sure you didn't think the Imperius would be a problem in the investigation either, Professor," Tony said.

Dumbledore sighed. "Too true, Agent DiNozzo. Very well. The Cruciatus is a torturing curse. It's truly horrific to see or be on the end of. It's been known to drive people into irreversible madness."

Tony, Colonel Mann, Jenny, and McGee were all wondering the same thing: why would one do such a thing to another?

"The Avada Kedavra is, perhaps, the darkest of spells. It is a curse that kills instantly, leaving no trace behind." Dumbledore's explanations left the agents in stunned silence.

"Letting the Muggles in on all our secrets, Dumbledore?" growled a voice by the door. The man walked further into the room and with every other step he took one could hear a dull _clunk_. He was a rather scary looking man. His face was completely scarred, part of his nose was missing. But the most frightening thing were his eyes. They were completely mismatched, and one of them would not hold still.

"Lighten up a bit, Mad-Eye!" said a second, jollier voice. A woman with a heart-shaped face and bubble-gum pink, spiked hair jumped into the room. Professor McGonagall came in after her, looking a bit disheveled. "They already know about Hogwarts, might as well tell them about the rest!"

"This," Dumbledore said loudly before Moody could snap back as he stood up, "is Alastory Moody and Nymphadora Tonks. They are Aurors."

"Dark wizard fighters!" the pink-haired woman happily elaborated. "And I prefer to go by Tonks! And you can call him Mad-Eye!" she said, jabbing her thumb at her partner.

Tony was far too frightened at the appearance of the man to call him Mad-Eye, though it was certainly a fitting name.

"And I'm not quite an Auror yet, Professor!" Tonks corrected good naturedly. "I still have at least a year of training to go!"

"If you can pass Stealth and Tracking," Moody growled. With his dark, beady eye he looked over at Jenny. "You're the Director, then?"

"That's right," Jenny said calmly, sitting up in Ziva's chair.

"You might want to go get your agent from upstairs," he suggested.

Jenny raised an eyebrow, but headed upstairs to get Gibbs anyway, wondering how Moody had known.

"And you," Moody said, rounding on Tony, who jumped, "go get the woman watching the boy out of that room."

Tony's mind didn't even process doubt or wonder. He just knew that he needed to do whatever Moody told him, or things would not end well. He jumped up and went to get Ziva immediately.

"Mad-Eye! Stop showing off!" Tonks scolded.

Moody didn't respond. He just strode toward the door labeled 'Interrogation', Tonks trailing behind him.

McGee didn't realize he'd been holding his breath. He hadn't thought there could possibly be anyone more straightforward, demanding, and scary than Gibbs. He'd been wrong.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Dealing with the Diggorys

Problem? Quite possibly!

Care to leave a review?


	39. Dealing with the Diggorys

**Dealing with the Diggorys**

Moody and Tonks came out of the interrogation room after nearly twenty minutes.

"It's done," Moody declared.

"Thank you very much, Alastor!" Dumbledore said gratefully.

"Poor Cedric!" Tonks said sympathetically. "He's a good kid! I can't believe that happened to him!"

"You know him?" McGee asked.

"Yeah! He was in his second year when I was in my seventh! My fellow Hufflepuff! Hell of a flier, I hear!" she said proudly.

"Oh yeah, he is," Tony said sourly.

"What House do you support?" Tonks asked defensively.

"I'm indifferent," Tony smartly replied. "I just don't like going on crazy high altitude broom chases in heavy rain!"

"Is that what happened?" Tonks said interestedly. "Probably the Imperius at work, nasty thing that it is."

"He'll answer whatever questions you ask now," Moody stated.

Gibbs nodded and headed back towards interrogation.

"Take someone with you, Gibbs!" Jenny commanded.

"I'll be fine, Jen!" Gibbs said, clearly annoyed.

"It's not you I'm worried about, Jethro!"

"I'll go," Colonel Mann volunteered, stepping forward.

Sighing agitatedly, Gibbs reentered interrogation with Colonel Mann.

"This is the door to the observation room, correct?" Dumbledore asked, his hand on the handle.

"It is," Jenny confirmed.

Dumbledore nodded and held the door open for everyone else before shutting it behind himself.

* * *

Colonel Mann sat down at the table while Gibbs guarded the door, which still had a potions knife sticking out of it.

"Cedric Diggory," she said, "you're quite an impressive flier." Cedric didn't respond in anyway and she continued, "Was that you or the Imperius?"

"That was me," Cedric admitted. "I didn't think you'd go after me!"

"We always go after our suspects," Gibbs said with an aura of false calm. "Why'd you try to escape?"

"I tried to get away because… I don't know."

"Not a good enough answer," Gibbs said. "You could have killed my team and you assaulted me," he informed, pointing at the knife in the door. "Try again."

Cedric took a moment to think. "I flew away because it was the opposite of what he wanted me to do. He wanted me to stay, get caught, and confess to it all."

"Who is 'he'?" Colonel Mann asked, a hunger in her eyes.

"I don't know!" Cedric admitted. "I wish I did!"

Alastor Moody burst into the room, almost knocking Gibbs to the floor. "What'd the voice sound like, boy?" he demanded, getting in Cedric's face. "The voice telling you what to do!"

Cedric leaned away from Moody. "I – I didn't recognize it!"

"Describe it, then!" Moody said harshly.

"Er… low, gravely, evil," Cedric said hurriedly.

"McGee!" Gibbs said to the glass. "Play the tape!"

A moment later, the sound recording of the before interview played.

"_Do one decent thing, confess and tell me why!" _Gibbs' voice commanded.

"_I didn't want – to kill – anyone!" _Cedric's voice gasped.

After a moment, the demonic voice demanded,_ "Leave me alone!" _The tape stopped.

"That's the voice!" Cedric exclaimed.

"That," Gibbs said, "was you."

Cedric's face fell. "I haven't ever done that before!"

Knowing the unnatural voice was a dead end, Colonel Mann changed the subject. "What did 'he' tell you to do?"

Cedric swallowed. "I didn't want to do it!"

"I know you didn't," the Colonel said.

The boy nodded, knowing his point had been made clear. "He said that a Muggle-born had to die, and he told me I was going to do it. I tried to throw it off then, but I couldn't," Cedric admitted. "He didn't say anything about how. So I worked fast before he did. I heard about McDonald and Parkinson and Davies. I didn't want to do that, and I didn't want to put anyone through it. I just opened a page in a potions book and started working. I didn't look at the effects; I didn't look at the name of the potion. I just hoped it'd be quick. It wasn't." Cedric suddenly looked extremely tired. The weight of what he'd done was pushing down on him.

"I never wanted to do any of it! I couldn't throw it off, and any time I tried to tell someone, I found myself turning around and walking away."

Colonel Mann nodded and stood up, headed for the door.

"You aren't going back to class," Gibbs told Cedric. "You understand?"

"Yes, sir," Cedric said quietly. "I don't think I could even if I wanted to."

"Stay here until we figure out what to do with you." Gibbs left the room, Moody and the Colonel behind him. They met everyone else out in the bull pen.

"Well…" Tony sighed and looked around, waiting for an order from someone.

"We can put him in the hospital wing, for now," Jenny suggested.

"No good," Colonel Mann quickly objected. "It'll send Lavender into a panic attack."

"We can't send him home," Tony stated.

"And we definitely cannot send him back to his dorm," Ziva said.

"Why not send him home?" Tonks asked. "The reasons he can't go back to class or to his room is obvious. But home? I doubt someone's going to come finish him off there!"

"We need him close by for a while in case we think of anything else to ask him. If he's at home, we lose access to him," Tony explained.

"Good luck getting that through Amos Diggory's head!" McGonagall said quietly, pointing toward the door.

Professor Sprout held the door open for a man with a ruddy looking face and a scruffy beard and a woman who could only be his wife.

Gibbs strode across to room to meet them. "Mr. and Mrs. Diggory?"

"Where's my boy?" Mr. Diggory asked heatedly, glaring at Gibbs.

"Amos!" Mrs. Diggory scolded.

"Let me be, Bethany!" Mr. Diggory snapped.

"You can see your son in a minute," Gibbs started calmly.

Mr. Diggory began speaking before Gibbs could finish his thought. "Don't you tell me when I can and cannot see my son! Where is he?"

"Ah, shut your trap, Diggory!" Moody growled, limping over. "Your office, Director?" His blue eye flipped back into his head, the direction Jenny was.

"Certainly!" Jenny agreed. "Professors Dumbledore, Sprout, Mr. and Mrs. Diggory, right up this way!" She led the way up the stairs. Moody brought up the rear of the party, forcibly turning Mr. Diggory around several times to make him keep moving forward.

"He seems pleasant!" Tony remarked sarcastically.

Gibbs slapped him upside the head. "He's worried about his kid, DiNozzo."

"He could have handled himself a little bit better," Ziva said unemotionally.

"Amos Diggory takes great pride in his son," Professor McGonagall explained. "He wants the best for Cedric, and a blotch on his boy's record certainly wouldn't be that."

"Aren't you supposed to be up there?" McGee asked, pointing over his shoulder.

"Professor Sprout is the head of Cedric's house. She knows him and his parents better."

"But weren't you there when Penelope Clearwater's parents came?"

"Professor Flitwick wasn't fit to see them," McGonagall answered.

"Enough of that," Colonel Mann interrupted. "We have to figure out what we're going to do with him! He can't leave, he can't go back to his room, and we can't put him the hospital wing for safe-keeping."

"I was under the impression that Lavender would be going home soon," Ziva said.

"Her father was away for work and has only recently been reached," Colonel Mann snorted. "They'll be here 'as soon as possible' to get her. I don't know if she should go with them, though. They obviously don't understand…"

"Which is why you'll talk to them when they come, Colonel," Gibbs stated, beginning to look at things on his computer.

"Well someone better come with me to be my self control, because I'm sure mine will be out the window in a second if – "

"Take McGee or DiNozzo."

"McGee," the Colonel said without hesitation.

Tony looked offended. "I'm here!"

"I said I'll need someone to be my self-control. You'd help me quite literally _beat_ the situation into their heads. McGee has more patience when it comes to those sorts of things. I'll take him," she finished firmly.

Fornell walked through the door, dripping wet and looking very tired. "Gibbs, need to talk to you!" He didn't even bother taking off his sopping coat as he walked towards silvery sliding doors that had just appeared in the wall.

"Do you want to know what you missed first, Tobias?" Gibbs asked.

"It's about Emily, Jethro!" Fornell said impatiently.

Gibbs pulled himself out of his chair and walked over to the silvery doors as well. They slid open and the two men walked into the elevator.

"I thought he went to see a woman called Diane…" McGonagall said slowly.

"He did," Tony said. "Emily is her's and Fornell's daughter." He looked across the bull pen. "What do you think, Ziva?"

"I do not know, Tony. It is not my business," Ziva said without looking up from a file on her desk.

"Come on, you're curious."

Ziva looked up with an arched eyebrow. "Go ahead, Tony. Eavesdrop."

"I don't have a death wish, thanks!"

"Then I doubt you will find out what the problem is," Ziva said with a smirk. She returned her attention to her desk.

"Maybe," McGee piped up, "she doesn't want him to have visitation rights anymore."

"That would be cruel, McGee!" Ziva objected.

"Well, she robbed Gibbs and Fornell blind," Tony said. "Who knows what else she'd do."

"At least this one didn't beat either of them over the head with a golf club," Colonel Mann sighed, falling into her chair.

Professor McGonagall wisely decided not to ask.

"Alright, I'll bite!" Tonks said brightly. "What are we talking about?"

"Trust me, you'd rather not know," Tony said unconcernedly, picking up a pen and beginning to write.

"My boy didn't kill anyone!" The voice from up the stairs sounded faint, but it came through two doors and still managed to travel quite a bit before reaching the ears of those in the bull pen.

Tony rolled his shoulders. "Glad I'm not up there!"

Gibbs and Fornell came out of the elevator and walked into the bull pen. As Fornell passed Tony's desk, he glared as if daring Tony to ask.

"Colonel," Gibbs said, sitting down at his desk, "I think Ducky could use your help creating a profile."

Colonel Mann left for the morgue.

"DiNozzo!"

"Here, Boss!"

"Go listen."

"Boss?"

"Go!"

Tony stood uncertainly and headed for the stairs, looking over his shoulder, waiting for Gibbs to correct him.

"That's sinking a bit low, don't you think, Gibbs?" Tonks asked.

Gibbs just stared at the pink-haired woman for a moment. She adjusted to things fairly quickly. "I do what I have to in order to get my job done. Tonks, was it?"

"Yup! That's me! I wouldn't count on DiNozzo being very successful," she said.

"You'd be surprised," Gibbs countered, turning his attention away.

Tonks looked over at McGonagall and quickly looked away before she started giggling.

"Get a hold of yourself, Tonks!" McGonagall snapped.

"It's just so funny when people don't know, Professor!"

"Do not know what?" Ziva said suspiciously.

"Nothing!"

"Merlin's beard, Tonks!" McGonagall said under her breath.

Ziva found herself feeling far from at ease. She didn't like people keeping secrets from her. She resolved to keep an eye on Tonks.

Tony suddenly ran down the stairs and slammed into his chair with such speed and force it almost fell over.

The answer to Tony's strange behavior came a moment later as Mr. Diggory stormed down the stairs, followed by his much calmer wife. Jenny came out after them, hurrying to catch up, even breaking into a jog once off the stairs. She got in front of them and led them to the room their son was in. She opened the door, let them in, and closed it, sighing with relief. Jenny unceremoniously slid down the wall and sat on the floor.

"Having problems, Director?" Gibbs asked.

Jenny glared at him.

"He did not break pattern," Ziva said quietly. "Gibbs!" she spoke loudly this time, "He did not break pattern! Cedric Diggory is pureblood!" She got up from her desk, strode over to Gibbs and pointed at something on the paper she was holding. "There has only been one killer all along!"

"So that means…" McGee let his sentence hang.

"Half-bloods beware," Tony finished.

"Fill me in on what's been going on," Moody demanded, limping over to Gibbs' desk. "I only know what Professor McGonagall tells us."

"Then you know a fair amount," Gibbs said evenly.

"I haven't heard anything about a pattern," Moody barked. "Fill me in."

Gibbs only looked at Moody for a moment longer. "Alright," he conceded. "Follow me, I'll tell and show you all you want." Gibbs headed towards Ducky's, Moody right behind him.

"Tonks! Let's move!" Moody shouted over his shoulder.

Tonks rolled her eyes, but hurried off to catch up with Moody before Ducky's doors slid shut.

"What do you mean 'half-bloods beware' and 'patterns'?" McGonagall asked, glaring at Tony, Ziva, and McGee in turn.

"Oh," Tony said, scratching his chin. "Yeah, I guess you did come in right after that bit the other day."

"Serial killers usually settle into a pattern," McGee explained. "They might let it form on its own and then follow it, or they might set it before-hand."

"This killer," Ziva continued for her colleague, "has based his pattern on blood. Half, pure, Muggle. Half, pure, Muggle. The next victim will almost certainly be half-blood."

Professor McGonagall seemed to have gone past emotions. She looked completely blank.

Jenny stood up and began taking charge. "McGee, I want the names and files of every half-blood in this school in an hour."

"You got it," McGee said. He began typing away madly on his computer.

"DiNozzo, David," Jenny walked across the bull pen to the wall that would usually be a large window. It turned into a massive whiteboard. Printed on it was a map of Hogwarts. A list of names appeared to the right of it. "These are the people you've got available. Come up with points for patrol. I've got to call SecNav." She left for MTAC.

"Alright, Ziva David!" Tony said, standing up. "We have sixteen staff members and seven of us for a grand total of a patrol party of twenty three people!"

"We do not have twenty three people, Tony," Ziva pointed out as she walked over to the white wall. "At most we have twenty two. Madam Pomfery will have to stay in the hospital wing."

"Alright, then. We'll work under the assumption that we have twenty people, just to be safe?"

"Agreed. That means ten teams to cover seven floors, plus the dungeons," Ziva said. She picked up a dry-erase marker and began writing.

Tony picked up a different colored marker and started writing his own notes.

Tonks stumbled out of Ducky's and tripped over her own feet as she made her way over to Tony and Ziva. "Spreading things a bit thin, are we?" she asked, looking at the board.

"This is what we have to work with," Ziva said without stopping with her notes.

"Why not use the prefects? That'd be another twenty four people to help!"

Ziva turned around to look at Tonks, her eyebrows pulled together. "They are children!"

Before Tonks could point out that prefects already regularly did patrols, the forgotten Mr. and Mrs. Diggory came out of the interrogation room their son was being held in.

"Cedric says he wants to stay and help any way he can," Mrs. Diggory said to McGonagall. She then turned to the three agents left in the room. "Is that alright?"

"That's perfect!" Tony said with a smile.

Mrs. Diggory nodded and she and her tongue-tied husband left.

Tony punched the air. "Yes! We don't have to argue with them!"

"Congratulations!" Tonks chuckled.

The morgue doors opened and Moody, Gibbs, Fornell, Ducky, Colonel Mann, and even Abby came through them.

"Uh oh!" Tonks whispered, though she was smiling. "Come on! Come on!" she said, beckoning Tony, Ziva and McGee with her as she started towards the stairs. "This'll look ten times cooler from above!"

The three agents looked extremely confused and stayed where they were until Gibbs passed them, following Tonks. They joined the group going upstairs.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Tonks the Terrifying

Leave a review, please! It'll make me smile!


	40. Tonks the Terrifying

**Tonks the Terrifying**

"What's going on?" Tony asked Abby, who had a huge smile plastered on her face.

"I don't know, but I bet it'll be super cool!" Abby said with glee.

"Weren't you in your lab?"

"Bless the Room of Requirement! Ducky's and my lab are adjoined! It makes for much less travel. Gibbs got me before they left!"

Once at the top of the stairs, Tony looked down into the bull pen. It had morphed into the plain stone walled room it had been when NCIS first arrived. Only Moody and McGonagall were down below.

Moody had his wand drawn, Professor McGonagall was looking at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Don't, Alastor."

"Since when do you run away from a challenge?" Moody queried.

"Go back to the Ministry, Alastor. I'm certain you have plenty of work to do."

Moody slashed his wand through the air. A beam of light shot out of it and streamed straight towards Professor McGonagall.

In the blink of an eye, McGonagall and pulled out her wand and knocked the spell off course. "Leave me alone, Mad-Eye!"

Moody didn't oblige. He sent another spell, and McGonagall was forced to deflect it once again. Moody continued on the offensive and McGonagall kept knocking spell after spell away from her until she snapped, finally returning fire.

"Yes! Dream come true!" Tonks whispered excitedly.

"Dream come true?" McGee questioned, mouth agape. "That's… violent!" he said as Moody twisted out of the way of a spell that made a decent-sized hole in the wall behind him.

"This is a wizard's duel! Between one of the best Aurors out there and my old teacher!" Tonks began explaining, not looking away. "One witch or wizard challenges another, and they face off. It's normally done in a more formal manner, but McGonagall likes to give people the impression that she can keep her cool. Moody had to make her."

"Why did he want to?" Tony asked.

"He'd do it to any of the teachers here at the moment, really. They're all really, really stressed and angry! I don't blame them, though. I mean, first Sirius Black escapes Azkaban, a first ever. Then they find out that Black wants to get into Hogwarts, leading to dementors hovering all over the place. And now the dementors are getting hungry and taking 'innocent strolls to the Quidditch pitch'. I bet Dumbledore had a cow. And on top of all that, someone's killing off their students and they have no idea who it is!"

"Who is Sirius Black?" Gibbs asked. He had been suspicious, and Tonks had just confirmed. Black was a convicted criminal trying to get into Hogwarts.

"No one's told you about Black?" Tonks looked away for a brief moment. "Dangerous guy, he is! Sold his best mate's family to You-Know-Who. Killed a dozen Muggles and another one of his friends the next day with one spell. Went off to Azkaban laughing his head off. Completely mental." Tonks spoke so casually it was chilling. "Ministry's in an uproar because he got out. Lots of worried people."

At Tonks' explanation, the NCIS team shared a look of dismay. They'd joined the group of worried people.

"Why's he trying to get into Hogwarts?" Gibbs continued pushing his limits.

"That bit," Tonks said, "is not supposed to be common knowledge."

"We are here to protect the students!" Ziva tried to say calmly. "If there is someone trying to get at one of them from outside the school I think we should know!"

"Congratulations, you figured it out!" Tonks said blankly. "Black's trying to get at the students."

"Which one?" Gibbs demanded.

"It's not supposed to be common knowledge!"

"Potter!" Colonel Mann said quietly. "He's after the last Potter!"

Tonks looked confused and a bit worried at the same time. "I didn't say anything about the Potters, did I?"

"I know about the Potters, and about Black," Colonel Mann said blankly.

"But you're a Muggle!"

"I'm related to a wizard."

"Oh," Tonks said sadly. "Squib?"

"No…" Colonel Mann said after a delay.

"Well, yeah, you've got it completely worked out, now. But you shouldn't have to worry about it. The Ministry's got it under control!"

"If the Ministry has it under control, why is Black still out and about?" Gibbs growled.

"Good question," Tonks said absent mindedly. "Now shush! This is getting really good!"

Gibbs looked over the balcony at the duel. Things had, in fact, elevated.

A tongue of fire shot out of Moody's wand, but a flick from McGonagall's turned it to ice. Moody's spell caused the ice to burst into sharp pieces he sent racing at his opponent. A wall of blue fire sprung up around McGonagall. The ice-daggers melted as they ran into it. The fire kept crackling on, though a pool of water was developing under it. After the last piece of ice was melted, the fire vanished and McGonagall pointed her wand at the water. It rose in a ball and with another twitch of a wand turned to stone and soared at Moody.

"This is not normal," Tony declared.

"Who knows what is normal anymore?" Ziva asked.

"That's a good point, Officer David."

Abby squealed as McGonagall suddenly disappeared and was replaced with a tabby cat. A spell soared over the cat's head and left a crater-sized hole in the wall.

No one heard the door open. Dumbledore walked out into the balcony and looked down on the scene. "Alastor!" he exclaimed. "Minerva! I thought either of you would have had a bit more self control!"

With a pop, the cat turned back into McGonagall who, chest heaving, childishly pointed at Moody and said, "He started it!"

Tonks turned her back on her mentor and her former teacher to giggle without being seen.

"No harm done, Dumbledore!" said Moody, pocketing his wand only after McGonagall had put away hers.

"Have you gotten all the information you want?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yup," Moody answered. He, Dumbledore, and Professor Sprout headed toward the door. At the stairs, Moody stopped and looked up at Gibbs. "I'll leave Tonks here for the night. If she ever stops giggling like a fool, she can help with the magical aspects of your investigation."

Gibbs nodded and Moody limped out.

Tonks took a deep, calming breath. She still had the grin of a little girl on her face when she finished, but she had stopped laughing. "Well, let's get down to work, shall we?" She jumped over the balcony, fell down to the ground below, and was promptly scolded by Professor McGonagall after landing safely.

The agents took the stairs. As they walked back into the reappearing bull pen, Ziva's face lit up. "You are the cat I saw in the library!" she exclaimed, pointing at McGonagall. "An Animagus, yes?"

Professor McGonagall gave a short nod.

"One of seven in the past century," Ziva commented. "Impressive."

"Come on, come on!" Tonks urged. "What's going on with Cedric? He can't just stay in that room until you've gotten everything you want. Where's he going to sleep?"

"The Director and Dumbledore can figure that out," Gibbs said.

"Alright," Tonks said a little uncertainly. Nonetheless, she found a comfy spot of ground and sat down, right in the middle of the bull pen. "Come on, then! Investigate! I'm interested to see how Muggles do it."

"Tonks," McGonagall said warningly.

"What am I doing, Professor?" Tonks wasn't being rude. It was a genuine question. McGonagall only rolled her eyes. "Your hair's coming undone," Tonks pointed out, then looked expectantly at the agents.

"This the patrol board?" Gibbs asked, walking over to the white wall.

"It is," Ziva said, standing up and walking over to it, as well. "We did not work out teams. We do not know how you want them split up."

"Leave that to the Director and Dumbledore," Gibbs said. "Why don't you have anyone on the grounds?"

"Uh… uh…" Tony searched for an excuse.

Gibbs grabbed the marker out of Tony's hand and erased 'team 9' from the third floor and relocated it to the grounds. Team 10 was also relocated from the top floor to the grounds.

"I suggested earlier that prefects be used to help with patrol," Tonks said, standing up and heading over to the board. She tripped over her untied shoelace along the way. "That's an extra 24 people."

"They're students," Gibbs said flatly.

"They already do patrols," Tonks argued.

"They're at a higher risk," Gibbs explained quite patiently. "They'll stay in their rooms."

"I think you underestimate them, - "

"No, I don't."

"Then you over estimate the killer – "

"I don't do that either," Gibbs said, finally turning to look at Tonks. "You saw McDonald and Davies. Do you think it'd be easy to take them down?"

"The killer used magic with Cedric," Tonks pointed out. "What's to say he didn't use it with the others? You've said that you don't have a trace of – "

"The killer wanted Cedric to confess to all the murders. He's panicking. You catch dirt bags for a living. Tell me what happens when the panic."

"They use any means necessary to avoid capture," Tonks said, her face falling a bit.

"Very good. Now tell me what that means for the students."

"They're in more trouble than they were when he started." A bit of color came to Tonk's cheeks. "And you don't have to treat me like a child, you know!"

"Welcome to the team, Tonks," Tony sighed.

Jenny appeared at the top of the steps. "McGee! Do you have all the files pulled yet?"

McGee stuttered incomprehensibly for a moment. "No, not yet."

"I gave you an hour, Tim!"

"Jen, why are you harassing my agent?" Gibbs asked.

"_My_ agent, Agent Gibbs!"

"That you put under my command. I'll take care of it!"

Jenny huffed and glared before turning around and reentering MTAC.

"What files, McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"The files of all the half-bloods. You know… the ones with a Muggle and a magical parent," McGee said as he hurried back to his desk.

"That's not the only definition of a half-blood," Tonks said, following McGee to his desk. "I'm considered half-blood, and both my parents are magical." In response to McGee's confused look, Tonks elaborated. "My dad's Muggle-born. Therefore, I'm not pureblood, but I'm not Muggle-born either. I'm half."

"We just asked the kids what their blood status was," McGee said. "All I have to do is type half-blood into the search – "

"That's great, McGoogle!" Tony said loudly. "Let's have less talk and more typing."

Gibbs slapped Tony on the back of the head again. "Write down those names and get them to the Director.

"Abby, back to work!"

"But Gibbs – "

"Abby!"

Pouting, Abby stomped back to her lab.

"I'll be at Ducky's," Gibbs informed. He beckoned Fornell with him and they disappeared behind sliding doors.

"You were right, Professor!" Tonks said, flipping her head back to look at McGonagall. "He is really demanding. I disagree on the 'incredibly rude' part. Then again, I've been working with Moody for two years!"

Tony, Ziva, and McGee pointedly turned their attention elsewhere as McGonagall's eyes widened and she began to glare at Tonks.

"Oh, hey!" Tonks said after a moment. "What about the ghosts?"

"Ghosts?" Ziva asked interestedly.

"Don't encourage her, Tonks! Please!" Tony urgently requested.

"I'm not encouraging," Tonks said matter-of-factly. "There are over a dozen ghosts here! Haven't you seen them?"

"The ghosts held a council," McGonagall said, "and decided not to show themselves to the Muggles."

"'Held a council?' Yeah right! That's all the Bloody Baron!"

"You know, ghosts aren't alive, which means they can't be killed…"

"Very good work, Agent DiNozzo!" Ziva said with much sarcasm.

"My point, Officer David," Tony said defensively, "is that they're already dead. They're at no risk what so ever! If we can convince them to help keep an eye out…"

"They will be the most valuable to our search," Ziva finished.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Tonks exclaimed. "Let's go ghost hunting!"

"Ghost busting," Tony said with a smile.

"What?"

"Ghost Busters! Come on, you've seen it!"

"Muggle movie?" Tonks asked. "Four guys that go around 'trapping' ghosts with fancy looking equipment?"

"Oh, it's so much more than four guys – "

"It's fake," Tonks said bluntly. "There was a wizard on that set messing with all of you!"

"How do you know?"

"I'm a witch, DiNozzo! I've seen real ghosts, and I've tried to make them go away before. It doesn't work.

"Professor, do you remember how I did my hair when I was in school? I can't remember… I know it wasn't like it is now. Professor Sprout always yelled at me for it…"

"You changed it quite frequently. If you're going for looking recognizable, tough luck," McGonagall answered.

"Hmmm…" Tonks said thoughtfully. A mirror appeared on the wall and she looked into it. She screwed her eyes up in a weird fashion and her hair began lengthening and darkening before the agents' eyes. Finally, when her hair reached just below shoulder length and was a nice shade of brown, she smiled and turned around. Her grin only widened at the expression on the Muggle's faces.

"Shall we get going, then?" Tonks bounded towards the door.

Tony looked back at Professor McGonagall, but she was too busy pinching her eyes shut and shaking her head to offer an explanation. "You've got your gun, right, Ziva?" he whispered to his co-worker.

"I don't think that's normal, even for here," McGee said slowly.

"I do not like it," Ziva hissed.

"You lot coming or not?" Tonks said impatiently, holding the door open.

"I'll pull the files, McGee. You can go with Ziva and Tonks!" Tony offered.

"That's alright," McGee said. "I'm good here."

Tony's lip twitched.

"I am not going alone, Tony! Come on!" Ziva urged, tugging Tony by the arm towards the door.

Tony looked imploringly at McGee the entire time Ziva pulled on him. McGee only smiled annoyingly and waved.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Neghostiations, Targets, and Teams

I'm BACK! I apologize very much for making you all wait so long! Writing is, unfortunately, not my top priority. In fact, it's pretty low on the list. All my other duties have been very demanding as of late. To any of you who keep up with my other stories, the updates are right on top of my writing, which is why those have yet to be updated. Please be patient with me! I'm trying!

Please leave me one of your fantastical five-star reviews! ...I mean, I would give your review five stars. You don't have to give this update five stars... you get what I'm saying.


	41. Neghostiations, Targets, and Teams

**Neghostiations, Targets, and Teams**

"Merlin's beard, it got dark fast!" Tonks said as she led Tony and Ziva through the halls. She pulled out her wand and ignited the tip. "That's better. You two seem fairly quiet," she commented.

"We're not quite used to seeing people turn into cats at random and growing their hair in seconds!" Tony snapped.

"The wonders of magic, eh?" Tonks chuckled.

"How'd you do it? Your hair. A spell or something?"

"Nope," Tonks said brightly. "I can do that without a wand at all!" After letting Tony be extraordinarily confused for a few more moments Tonks explained. "I'm a Metamorphmagus. I can change my appearance at will. It's pretty cool, and really rare," she said proudly.

"So on any given day you can look completely different?" Ziva inquired.

"Yep!"

Ziva looked at Tony. Tony sighed his agreement. Tonks would have to be watched closely to keep track of her appearance changes.

"Now if I know this school at all, and I like to think I do," Tonks said at an intersection of halls, "the ghosts will be somewhere in the dungeons. So to the left and then the left and then down the stairs, then right, left, straight, stairs… I could go on. Or would you rather take a secret passageway? I think there's one right around here…" Tonks started tapping the walls.

Tony and Ziva chose to remain quiet. Tonks seemed perfectly content talking to herself, why interfere?

"Ah ha!" Tonks exclaimed. She tapped a part of the wall four times with her wand. It turned into a door. She tugged on the handle, revealing a steep slanted hallway. Tonks strode on in. "Come on! Merlin's beard, if you move this slow all the time I don't know how you're still alive!"

Tony 'allowed' Ziva to go first and then brought up the rear, closing the door behind him and throwing the group into complete darkness with the exception of Tonks' wand light.

"I think this one takes us three floors down," Tonks said as she galloped to keep up with the downward tilt of the hall.

"You think?" Tony asked.

"I'm pretty sure. I haven't been a student here for three years, DiNozzo! Even then, the last two years of my stay here I was followed by a teacher or prefect almost everywhere. I couldn't use too many shortcuts. It seemed suspicious."

"Why?" Ziva inquired, ducking to avoid a spider web.

"Let's say that I had a disregard for rules. Although, in my defense, half the time I caused trouble I really didn't mean to! I'm dead clumsy, you know. Ah! Here's… trouble. I don't remember this bit." The hallway had forked. Left, right, or center. Only one of them could be correct.

Tonks only smiled and started looking at the walls. "Come on, someone had to have put the answer somewhere!" She stopped and raised her wand in the air, illuminating the ceiling. "There we go!" she said with a grin.

Ziva looked up. The writing didn't look like an answer at all. It looked like hieroglyphics.

"Good thing I stuck with Ancient Runes, eh?" Tonks said. "To the left we go!" She headed off. Ziva and Tony hurried to keep up.

Finally, the end of the hall appeared along with a door. Tonks threw the door open and hopped through it. Ziva and Tony weren't far behind.

Tony rubbed his eyes. The torch light seemed extremely bright. "Where to now?"

"No wonder that was such a long trip!" Tonks said happily. "That was five floors, not three. Oops! Oh well, fewer turns to make!" She skipped off. Tony and Ziva had to jog to keep up.

Four staircases, three wrong turns, and fifteen minutes later, Tonks stopped and hushed her fellows. "Hear them?"

Tony strained his ears. He could, in fact, hear faint voices.

"Keep quiet," Tonks whispered. "Once we find them, I'll go in and talk to them first. Stay out in the hall. If you can tell they're getting agitated, it'd be wise to go back upstairs." She continued on, though much quieter than before.

Tonks finally approached a door that was slightly ajar. She peered in, turned to Tony and Ziva, and smiled. "Remember," she hissed, "if things start going downhill, go back upstairs." She opened the door and walked in.

"Hello, Hogwarts ghosts!" Tonks said cheerily.

"Well I'll be!" said a loud, jolly voice. "I'd recognize that voice anywhere! Tonks!"

"Friar!" Tonks greeted. Ziva peered through the cracked open door and was able to see Tonks smiling at a rather fat and semi-transparent man.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't little Nymphadora come to visit!"

Ziva frowned. She recognized the voice. It was Peeves, resident poltergeist. He'd thrown a water balloon at her for no good reason.

"Don't call me Nymphadora!" Tonks snapped.

"Of course not, Nymphy!"

Tonks growled. Peeves cackled and floated out of sight.

"And what brings you here, Miss Tonks?" asked another man. His head seemed to wobble as he moved, as if it were going to fall off.

"How are you, Nick?"

"To be honest, I'm rather bored. I miss speaking to the students," Nick sighed.

Ziva threw a hand over her mouth as Nick's head fell sideways, only staying connected by a bit of skin. He simply tilted his head back upright, as if it were completely normal.

"Answer Nicholas' question, Miss Tonks," a raspy voice commanded from out of Ziva's sight.

"What am I doing here?" Tonks asked. "I'm here because the school needs you."

"The council decided when the Muggles came that we would stay out of their sight. They need not see us."

Tonks looked like she was refraining from saying something she dearly wanted to. She took a breath before speaking. "I understand your wanting to stay hidden, your Bloodiness, but this is a matter of life or death for the students."

"Oh, sure! Life or death! Thanks for being so insensitive!" snapped a voice. The ghost of a girl with thick glasses and far from clear skin floated over to Tonks and got right in her face. "At least _they_ have both options available to them!"

"Myrtle!" Tonks said, sounding surprised. "I didn't know you were down here! I thought you'd still be in your bathroom."

"No!" Myrtle wailed. "Thanks to the Muggles I've been made to stay down here with everyone else!"

"Oh, don't be such a whiner, Moaning Myrtle!" Peeves said wickedly, coming back into view, "You've been an absolute delight!"

"Don't lie to me!" Myrtle burst into tears and quickly floated away, Peeves chasing after her, calling her various names.

"Not again," Nick groaned.

"What goes on with the living is not our business," the raspy voice picked up where it had left off, as if nothing had happened.

"Come on!" Tonks said. "What's it going to hurt, having them see you? They've already seen Professor Binns! Please, we need you! All of you! You're supposed to _help_ Hogwarts!"

"We aren't _supposed_ to do anything, Miss Tonks."

"Come now," said the Friar. "Let's hear what we're needed for, at least!"

Tonks smiled gratefully at the fat ghost. "We need help patrolling. We only have about twenty people to cover the entire school. We need more help if we want to prevent another murder."

"I think that's plenty enough reason to hold another council," Nick piped up. "After all, if this continues on much longer Hogwarts will be forced to close. Where will we all go?"

"Very well," sighed the out of sight voice. "We shall hold another council. You may go," he said.

Tonks nodded and left, closing the door behind her. She promptly shivered and began rubbing her hands together. "Merlin, it's cold in there!"

"What was with that one ghost's head?" Tony asked with a tone of disgust.

"Who, Nick?" Tonks questioned as she led the way out of the dungeons. "I never asked."

"Do you think they will help us?" Ziva said eagerly.

Tonks smiled widely. "I think there's a fair chance. They're sick of each other. They want to get back to normal and go around to the rest of the castle."

Ziva nodded.

"Who was that girl, Myrtle?"

"Oh," Tonks sighed. "You know about the Chamber of Secrets, right? Well, Myrtle was the first, and luckily only, fatality of the Basilisk's. She haunts the bathroom she was killed in fifty-one years ago."

"Yeesh," Tony commented.

"There's a new ghost!" Tonks said, smiling once more. "Or new to Hogwarts, at least. I haven't seen her before. She was talking to the Grey Lady. The Grey Lady never talks to any one. It's kind of weird."

"This whole thing is kind of weird," Tony said under his breath. Only Ziva heard him.

The rest of the journey back up to the Room of Requirement passed with Tonks saying various things and Tony and Ziva letting her.

Ziva went straight to her desk and tried to look like what she was doing was extremely boring in hopes Tonks wouldn't bother her too much. She looked over at the wall. The interrogation door that Cedric Diggory was behind had disappeared and Gibbs wasn't anywhere in sight. "McGee! Where is everyone?" Ziva called across the bull pen.

"The Director and Dumbledore are up in her office. Fornell and Colonel Mann are with Ducky. McGonagall is getting the staff together. Gibbs is talking to Diggory in his room. We have a new guest staying for an uncertain amount of time," McGee said with an annoyed smile.

"Hold up!" Tony exclaimed. "Diggory's staying _here_?"

McGee nodded. "We 'shouldn't have to worry about him' though, according to Dumbledore. By the way, Ziva, Madam Pomfrey fixed Diggory's ear. I'd recommend staying away from her for a while."

Ziva frowned at McGee while Tony looked upstairs at the new door in the wall.

"What are they doing up there?" Tonks asked McGee. "I need to talk to Dumbledore!"

"They're working out patrol. Dumbledore came back and has been upstairs since ten minutes after you three left."

"Did you get all the half-blood files pulled, McGee?" Ziva questioned.

"Yep," sighed McGee. "All three hundred twenty-six files."

"Three hundred twenty-six?" Tony said, his jaw dropping a little. "That's half the school!"

"Mmhmm. Lots of potential targets."

Ziva stood up and walked over to the coffeemaker. "I have a feeling we will not be sleeping tonight," she said as she measured out ingredients.

"Make it super-strong, David!" Tony requested, falling back into his chair.

Abby jumped out of her lab and looked around suspiciously. "I smell coffee."

"I am making some, Abby," Ziva said.

"Give me," Abby demanded, hand outstretched.

"I will bring you some when it is done!"

"How're things going in Abby land?" Tony asked.

Abby swiveled her harsh eye-liner framed glare onto Tony. "How do you think they're going, DiNozzo? Do you know how many dead ends I'm hitting? I hate dead ends!"

Tony looked like he was hovering above his seat, ready to run in an instant. "Sorry!"

"You will be!" Abby snapped. She stomped across the floor to hang over Ziva's shoulder.

McGee mouthed what looked like "Caf-Pow withdraw" to his coworker across the bull pen. Tony nodded his agreement.

"That's not the same woman that I met on the plane," Tonks said into Tony's ear.

Tony jumped and turned. "How did you do that?" he asked.

"Do what?" Tonks queried.

"Sneak up on me! No one can do that except – "

"I snuck up on you?" Tonks said excitedly. "You didn't hear me? I actually surprised you? HA! Take that, Mad-Eye!" Tonks punched the air in front of her. "I might pass Stealth and Tracking after all!"

Tony decided he'd rather not know.

A surly looking Abby stomped back to her lab, the entire pot of coffee in her hands. Tony looked around at Ziva, who was simply staring after Abby with a perplexed expression.

Gibbs came down the stairs and went right to his desk.

"How's Diggory, Boss?" McGee asked.

"He was forced to kill a girl, how do you think he's doing, McGee?"

"I think he's probably … that was a rhetorical question," McGee said at a look from his boss.

Jenny and Dumbledore came down the stairs. The Headmaster beckoned Tonks to come with him and the pair left.

"Where are Fornell and the Colonel?" Jenny asked.

"Getting Agent Tobias Fornell and Lieutenant Colonel Mann!" Tony said. He left for the morgue and came back with the two.

"Teams for patrol starting at 2130," Jenny said loud enough for everyone to hear. "McGee, Professor Sprout. David, Professor Flitwick. DiNozzo, Madam Hooch. Colonel Mann, Snape. Fornell, Tonks. Gibbs," Jenny took a few steps closer to him and looked him straight in the eye, "you and your partner will return unharmed, you got it?"

Gibbs didn't need to ask. He was stuck with McGonagall.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - A Seond Mad Man

I updated! I updated! Aren't you proud of me? Well... ok, it's been almost two weeks. Finding time to write is _hard _when you're juggling three different, very time consuming, activities! Then there's homework... and I have to sleep sometime. -sigh-

Leave me a review, if only to yell at me for not updating! :)


	42. A Second Mad Man

** A Second Mad Man**

Another sleepless night had passed for the NCIS team. The slight shift this time was that the Hogwarts staff got just as little sleep as them. Patrols had lasted _all_ night.

McGee and Professor Sprout had got along just fine. As a matter of fact, McGee did not see why Ziva had a problem with her. Sprout was not snappy, was not irritable, and did not try to be difficult. Then again, Ziva was well known to fall under each of those categories at times.

A climax in excitement of McGee's patrol had come when Professor Sprout had suddenly frozen completely for a whole two minutes. For another fifteen, she refused to tell him why. However, he won in the end and got the information out of her. She had thought she had seen the Grim, a death omen.

"Superstitious nonsense!" Professor Sprout had said, trying to brush it off. "I've been around Professor Trelawney too much. I assure you, it's nothing."

Ziva had very much enjoyed Professor Flitwick. Head of Ravenclaw, he was very smart and informative. He was also happy to answer any question she might have asked. She had learned quite a bit throughout the night.

Ziva would forever pride herself on the fact that she had caught three students trying to sneak around the school under an invisibility cloak, a feat which no one had been able to accomplish in three years. While this was something to be proud of, it made Ziva's mission to gain the trust of Potter, Weasley, and Granger twice as hard. Granger would surely understand. Potter would get over it. But Weasley… Ziva had a feeling he could hold a grudge.

Tony had, quite possibly, enjoyed patrol more than any of his colleagues. He and Madam Hooch had been assigned to watch the grounds. Madam Hooch, being the flight instructor of the school, thought walking was overrated. Tony spent the night flying around the school and learning proper broom techniques.

Jenny had patrolled with the mild-mannered Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor and Colonel Mann's cousin. Remus Lupin had proved to be rather pleasant. What Jenny had liked more, however, was that Lupin was happy to talk about his colleagues and help the Director understand them more. He was also up to date on the occurrences of the wizarding world, something Jenny had been desperately trying to become since hearing about Sirius Black.

On the other hand, Fornell, Colonel Mann, and Gibbs had experienced rather hellish nights, and that was even before the event that killed everyone's night completely.

Tonks was the worst partner for patrol Fornell could have imagined. She tripped and stumbled over everything: the edge of a rug, a step, her own foot. It made being stealthy extremely difficult. Not to mention Tonks pestered him all night with irrelevant questions.

"Who's the Emily you wanted to talk to Gibbs about?"

"Who's Diane?"

"How long have you been a… oh, I can't remember the word. We'll just say Muggle Auror! How long have you been one?"

"How old are you, anyway?"

Fornell had looked at his gun very thoughtfully several times throughout the night.

Snape had disliked Colonel Mann right from the start, and she knew exactly why. He was still holding a grudge back from when he was in school. Because she was related to Remus, she must be just as 'horrible' as he was. Colonel Mann had taken great offense to the professor's muttering, which had led to several arguments, which very well might have elevated to violence if either could protect themselves from the weapons the other possessed. Colonel Mann could have taken Snape down in a fight with her bare hands. Though he was bigger, she was more agile and was trained in combat. However, if it were to be a battle of magic, Colonel Mann did not stand a chance at all.

Gibbs and McGonagall: where to start?

Things had started with the pair simply walking in silence, doing their best to pretend the other was not there. The problems started when Gibbs stopped to examine the portrait he would swear the culprit had disappeared behind during the second chase. Professor McGonagall had snapped at him that it was not a secret passageway, that the portrait was simply a portrait. Things only rolled further and further downhill.

The absolute low of everyone's night happened just after one in the morning. Ziva and Flitwick were bringing Potter, Weasley, and Granger back to Gryffindor Tower, only to discover that the portrait of the Fat Lady had been slashed badly, and its inhabitant was nowhere to be seen.

Ziva had promptly pulled out her phone and called Gibbs, who called Jenny, who, with Lupin, hurried to Dumbledore's office. The Israeli proceeded to send a text to Tony, McGee, Abby, and Jimmy. Gibbs called Fornell, Colonel Mann, and Ducky.

A wailing sound grew louder and louder. Forgetting how much they detested each other, Gibbs and McGonagall looked at each other briefly before taking off after the screaming. Instead of finding the Fat Lady, they found Peeves cackling and floating blissfully near the ceiling.

"Peeves!" McGonagall barked, "Did you see the Fat Lady?"

"Oh, I doubt you'll see her anytime soon," Peeves said with dark joy. "She might just run herself thin!" He laughed at his own cruel joke.

"Peeves!" Gibbs shouted, danger packed into his voice. "Where is she?"

"Told you, Muggle," Peeves said. "She's running!"

"From what?" Gibbs yelled.

"Sirius Black's got a rather nasty temper, did you know?" Peeves taunted.

Gibbs and McGonagall moved as fast as they could in the direction of the Headmaster's office. They ran into him in the Entrance Hall and gave him news that took the sparkle out of his eyes completely and made him frown.

The few teachers not on patrol were immediately awakened and a search of the castle commenced. The searched turned up with nothing, though Black could not possibly have escaped. Tony and Madam Hooch hovered over the entrance doors the entirety of the search. No one had left the building.

And so it was that as the team showered, changed, brushed their teeth, washed their faces, they were furious. How was it that the most wanted man in the British magical community had sneaked into the school, eluded every team set to patrol, made it all the way up to the top floor, attempted to break into a _dormitory_, and then escaped without any of their notice?

Sirius Black was no longer just the problem of the Aurors. He had made himself NCIS's problem by breaking into the school they were doing their hardest to protect.

Gibbs' mood was not being improved by Abby's begging.

"Come on, Gibbs! Let me go look at the painting before they fix it! I can get something off it, I know I can!"

"Abby, you aren't going anywhere alone!" Gibbs growled.

"I'll take McGee!" Abby pointed across the bull pen at McGee, who had cut himself shaving. He had a wad of cotton pressed firmly on his neck, but it was not helping. He looked rather pitiful.

"Abby…"

"Gibbs! Please!"

"I'll take you after breakfast," Gibbs offered.

"They might have started working on it by then!" Abby whined.

"Abby! I will take you to look at it after breakfast!" Gibbs said firmly. He stood up, so did Tony, Ziva, and McGee.

"Getting Ducky, Boss!" Tony said and headed off before asked.

Ziva did not even bother saying anything. She just went to the stairs and climbed them. By the time she had come back down, Tony had returned with Ducky and Jimmy. "The Director is skipping breakfast today," Ziva informed. "There are too many people she has to talk with."

Gibbs glanced at the door to MTAC before leading the way down to the Great Hall, which was full of students still in their pajamas, seeing as they spent the night there. After a quick run through of the castle, Dumbledore thought it would be fairly safe to move the students into one place, house by house.

Breakfast was a rather tense affair. Teachers, agents, and older students alike were watching the doors with hawk-like glares, expecting Sirius Black to jump through them and kill every last living being in the hall.

The day progressed, and things only got worse in NCIS headquarters. Abby had been able to get a grand total of an infinite amount of prints off the frame of the Fat Lady. It was useless. Fornell left the bull pen every ten minutes to make a call, and came back every time angrier than he had been before. Colonel Mann was more agitated than normal, as well. Mr. and Mrs. Brown had said they would be at the school by noon of that day. They had failed to show. It was now dinner time.

Dinner passed much like breakfast had, though some of the older students had begun to relax.

Professor McGonagall walked out of the Great Hall and looked over the Entrance Hall with her beady eyes, looking for any signs of trouble. She noticed Agents Gibbs and Fornell by the door, the latter pacing back and forth irritably.

"Might I ask why you aren't with the rest of your colleagues?" the professor asked, striding over.

Fornell did not seem to hear. "She can't do this!" he said as he paced. "It's just not safe!"

"We'll keep upstairs, Tobias," Gibbs said calmly. He turned to McGonagall. "We aren't with our colleagues because Tobias is expecting someone."

"You've invited someone here?" McGonagall hissed, color rising to her face.

"Invited, no," Gibbs answered.

"It doesn't matter if she's upstairs," Fornell told Gibbs. "Upstairs isn't safe, either. That's where Black wants to be."

The hall was empty except for the three adults now.

"Black won't get into headquarters," Gibbs said. "We can require the door outside to disappear completely."

"He killed thirteen people in one try, Jethro!" Fornell snarled. "Who knows what he can and can't do?"

"What is going on?" McGonagall demanded.

Gibbs looked behind him at the open Entrance Doors. "You're about to find out, Professor."

Professor McGonagall followed Gibbs' gaze and saw a red headed woman striding across the lawn. Holding the woman's hand was a small girl, her blonde hair pulled up into a pony tail.

The little girl suddenly broke free of the woman's grasp and ran towards the door, a big grin plastered on her face. She went right to Fornell and hugged him.

Fornell gave Gibbs a worried look before giving his full attention to the little girl. "Hey, Emily!"

Emily looked up at Fornell and saw that his smile didn't reach his eyes. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy to see me, Daddy?"

McGonagall raised an eyebrow at the girl, then at Gibbs, who sighed.

The red headed woman finally reached the doors. McGonagall thought that if this was the witch Diane, she certainly didn't look like it in her Muggle clothes.

The red head looked around, her eyes landed on Gibbs. "Hello, Jethro," she said coldly.

"Diane," Gibbs said back with equal tones.

Diane turned toward Fornell. She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a wand. With a flick, a bright pink suitcase appeared next to Emily. "Those are her things, – "

"A word, if you don't mind, Diane!" Fornell said with false calm. He grabbed the woman at the elbow and pulled her off to the side.

Emily huffed and crossed her arms as she watched her parents begin to hiss furiously at each other. She turned her back on them and saw Gibbs. Her face broke into a smile. "You're Agent Gibbs," she stated.

Gibbs nodded and smiled a bit. "You're Emily," he said back.

Emily's face lit up and she began talking very quickly. "My daddy complains about you a lot."

Professor McGonagall, dislike Gibbs as she may, thought the girl was being rather rude.

Gibbs, on the other hand, chuckled. "Is that so?"

"Yep!" Emily said brightly. "He says you're mean and grumpy and sneaky. But I don't think he means it."

Gibbs raised both eyebrows briefly. "Really?"

"Mmhmm! If he really didn't like you, why does he always ask for your help? You're the one the one he always calls. He tells me."

"Good dad, huh?"

"The best!" Emily said. She skipped over to Gibbs and leaned against the wall next to him. She smiled at Professor McGonagall. "Are you a witch?"

Professor McGonagall nodded, a bit beyond talking.

"My mommy's a witch. I am too. See, look!" She looked at her pink suitcase, still sitting in the hall, and squinted in concentration. The pink turned to blue. Emily beamed and clapped her hands.

"Emily!" Diane scolded, turning away from Fornell. "What did I tell you?"

The smile went off Emily's face completely. "No magic until school. I'll get into trouble."

Diane nodded and went back to her argument.

"Mommy works for the magic government," Emily said to Gibbs and McGonagall. "She watches out for people who use their magic wrong."

The statement made Gibbs scoff. To cover it up and prevent Emily from questioning, he quickly asked, "So why are you here?"

"Mommy has to go to Paris for work," Emily answered. "I can't go with her."

Diane came back over to Emily. She smiled down at her and gave her a hug. "I'll see you in a few days. Be good!"

Gibbs stood up straight and walked over to a seething Fornell. Professor McGonagall, standing somewhere between the two conversations of the hall, could hear both. She zeroed in on Fornell's, looking for an explanation.

"Did you tell her about – " Gibbs was cut off.

"Yes, I told her about Black! Yes, I told her about the killer. She's still leaving her here! Jethro…"

"We'll watch her, Tobias," Gibbs said.

"Watching her isn't good enough, Jethro!" Fornell hissed. "If anything happens to her..."

"I know, Tobias. We won't let it happen!"

Diane left and Emily skipped over to her father and Gibbs. "Come on, Daddy! Let's go!"

"Go on," Gibbs said to Fornell. "I'll get her bag."

Fornell led his daughter up the stairs.

Gibbs turned. As he walked to grab the now blue bag he said, "Go ahead and ask, Professor."

"What just happened?" McGonagall blurted.

Gibbs sighed as he picked up the bag and started towards the stairs. "This will take a bit. If you want to hear it all, walk along!

"Diane and Fornell met and got married. Diane got pregnant and had Emily. Tobias started noticing weird things about his daughter, but man that he is, refused to believe anything was wrong with her."

"Magic isn't something that's _wrong_ with someone!" McGonagall said heatedly.

Gibbs chose to ignore the professor. "Diane and Fornell got divorced and she got custody of Emily. Court ruled that Fornell got to see Emily every other week, at least – "

"A court told a father he couldn't see his daughter?" McGonagall asked.

"Without Diane's say-so," Gibbs answered. "If you keep interrupting me, I won't ever finish!

"Fornell still kept noticing weird things when he saw her, and still kept pushing them off. Then there was one day that Emily was playing in her room. Fornell came to get her for dinner and everything had changed colors. Diane came over and told Fornell about his daughter being a witch and she got it from her mother. Nasty surprise for him."

"Nasty?" McGonagall said harshly.

"Well, Emily is his daughter. Fathers think they know everything about their little girls. Not knowing your daughter is a witch comes as a huge surprise."

"Most parents I've known have been delighted," McGonagall said flatly.

"And that was after they got over their shock, wasn't it? Can I continue or do you have some other stupid question to ask?

"Yesterday Diane got into contact with Fornell to tell him that he had to take Emily while she went away. Fornell is going to go out of his mind."

"He doesn't enjoy being with his daughter."

"No, he does," Gibbs said rather quickly and defensively. "But he doesn't exactly want her around with two killers roaming the halls. It's kind of enough to make any parent worry, as I'm sure you've experienced."

"I'm not a parent," McGonagall said incredulously.

Gibbs chuckled. "You've got over a hundred children. Or have you not noticed how insanely protective you are of your Gryffindors?" Gibbs walked through the door of the Room of Requirement, leaving a stuck Professor McGonagall behind him.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Birthday Celebrations

Those of you who think the story is getting slow, sit tight for... two more chapters? Yeah, I think things start picking up again there. Be patient with me!

Please be awesome and leave a review!


	43. Birthday Celebrations

**Birthday Celebrations**

Only a couple of days had gone by, but one would think that Emily Fornell had lived in the Room of Requirement all her life. The big, tough, emotionally in control agents would not admit it, but they thoroughly enjoyed Emily's being there. Her presence made everyone stay on their toes and kept them awake. Though the ghosts now took the last half of the night for patrol, everyone was still exhausted when their shift was over.

Emily skipped around the bull pen, finally jumping to a stop by Gibbs' desk. "Jethro!"

Gibbs propped his head up on a hand and looked at the girl in front of him. It hadn't taken anyone long to notice that he acted differently with her. He seemed happier and younger around her.

"Where'd Dad go, again?"

"Agent Fornell is up in MTAC," Gibbs answered.

"Why?"

"Because he needs to talk to people."

"About what?"

"About the end of Pi," Gibbs invented.

"Pie is a food! The end is when it's all gone!"

"Pi is a number."

"No it's not!" Emily said. Gibbs only smiled and she stuck her tongue out at him before turning around and skipping into Abby's.

"She'll get her boyfriends to go shoe shopping!" Tony said with a shudder.

"Who said she'll have boyfriends, DiNozzo?" Fornell said, walking past Tony to his desk.

"I didn't mean she'd have more than one at a time, I meant – "

"I know what you meant. But who said she'll have any?" Fornell asked again, falling into his chair.

"What's the verdict, Tobias?" Gibbs asked.

"No," Fornell sighed. He ran his hands over his face and seemed to looked older and older by the second. "It's been days, Jethro. The killer's going to be frustrated. Who knows how much time we have before he lashes out again?"

"If he does, we'll get him this time," Gibbs said with a nod. He would not let it show, but he had little confidence in his words. The killer had already escaped several times. Who knew how long it would be before his luck ran out?

Gibbs looked around. "Where's Ziva?"

* * *

Professor Dumbledore walked into the kitchens. Any time was hot chocolate time. The fact that dinner would be served in a mere forty minutes meant nothing.

Dumbledore smiled at the scene before him. NCIS would not ever stop surprising him. "Officer David, might I ask what you are doing?"

Ziva looked up, a finger in her mouth and a batter-covered spoon in her other hand. She removed her hand from her mouth. "I am making a cake," she explained.

"For what?"

The kitchen doors burst open. Abby and Emily rushed through them, closing them immediately after their entrance.

"Is it done yet?" Abby gasped.

"You did not run all the way down here?" Ziva asked, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"I didn't want Gibbs following me to ask a bunch of questions. I'd only be able to hold out so long! I had to move quickly!"

"What is that in your hair, Miss Scuito?" Dumbledore asked.

"Probably sawdust," Abby said casually.

Emily grabbed a chair and joined Ziva at the counter. "Chocolate! My favorite!"

"It is not for you, Emily," Ziva reprimanded.

"I know!" Emily responded.

"Whose is it, then, Miss Fornell?" Dumbledore asked with a chuckle.

"It's Jethro's! Today's his birthday!" Emily blurted.

"Is that so? I was under the impression that Agent Gibbs doesn't want his birthday to celebrated."

"Gibbs doesn't know what he wants," Abby huffed.

"How is construction going?" Ziva asked as she began pouring the batter into a pan.

"Pardon me," Dumbledore interrupted good naturedly. "I become very interested when someone talks about construction in Hogwarts. It normally does not end well."

"Oh, you don't have to worry, Professor!" Abby assured. "It's at the back of my lab, you won't even know it's there! And I left McGee and Tony to finish up, Ziva. They'll be done in about fifteen minutes, hopefully."

"If they manage not to kill each other," Ziva mumbled.

"Abby!" Emily exclaimed, jumping off her chair and grabbing the woman's hand. "Frosting! Come on! Let's make it!"

"You have questions, Professor," Ziva stated as Abby and Emily happily began looking for things they needed.

"One always has questions, Officer David. It is what some might call a flaw of the human mind. I care to think of it as an advantage," Dumbledore said evenly.

Ziva considered. "I suppose it could be an advantage. Without curiosity we would likely still live in caves."

"I've spent time living in a cave. It's not as bad as one would think."

"I have spent time in caves, too," Ziva said. "I did not choose it, however."

"Ah," Dumbledore sighed. "War is a dangerous thing, especially when one is fighting it."

"True," Ziva said blankly.

"As for questions I have," Dumbledore said, going back to the original topic, "I'm sure I have none that will not be answered in time."

"Hopefully sooner than later," Ziva said with a nod.

Dumbledore smiled and then left the kitchens with a mug Ziva did not recall him grabbing.

"Cook faster!" Abby demanded.

Ziva turned to see Abby and Emily sitting in front of the oven impatiently. She chuckled to herself and began clearing off the counter.

* * *

"You're all fired," Gibbs said.

"Gibbs!" Abby pouted. "You wouldn't do that to us!"

"I wouldn't?"

"…Well, not to me. Tony, on the other hand…"

"Thanks, Abby," Tony said sarcastically.

"You're welcome, Special Agent DiNozzo," Abby responded. "Alright, Gibbs! Come on! We sang!"

"Yeah!" Emily joined Abby in her pushing. "Make a wish and blow out the candles!"

After another moment of being stared at intently, Gibbs caved and blew out the candles on his marvelously decorated cake. He was promptly handed a knife and plates were placed before him.

"Wait until you see what we got you!" Emily said, jumping up and down as she waited for Gibbs to hand her a slice of cake.

Gibbs turned towards his forensic scientist. "Abby!"

"Eat your cake and appreciate the party, Gibbs," Jenny commanded while sticking a fork into her own piece of cake. "What's done is done."

"You were in on this, weren't you?" Gibbs asked.

Jenny looked offended. "I can't believe you'd suggest such a thing, Jethro!"

The moment Gibbs finished his cake Abby was up on her feet. "Come on! Come on!"

"Abby," Gibbs said exasperatedly.

"Up! You'll like it, I promise!"

"I told you I didn't want anything!" Gibbs said agitatedly as Abby dragged him.

"Gibbs, if I said I didn't want anything for my birthday, wouldn't you still get me something? Ok," Abby said, stopping in front of the door of her lab, "close your eyes."

"Abby!"

"Close them!" Abby demanded, putting her hands on her hips and looking dangerous.

Sighing, Gibbs humored Abby and closed his eyes.

Abby quickly gestured for everyone else to follow her as she led Gibbs through all her whirring machines. Finally coming to a plain wooden door at the back, Abby stopped. "Ok, Gibbs."

Gibbs opened his eyes and looked at the familiar door. He turned the handle and looked in awe at what lay before him: a replica of his basement, hand tools included.

"I told you! I told you you'd like it!" Abby squealed. "Happy birthday, Gibbs!"

Gibbs smiled briefly and turned to hug Abby. "Thanks – "

"Hold on a moment there, my Silver Haired Fox," Abby commanded. "I'm not done yet!"

Gibbs sighed.

Abby looked at her watch and yelped. "You can play with your toys later! Come back this way!" Abby grabbed Gibbs' wrist and pulled him back to the bull pen.

Ducky chuckled. "Anthony, Ziva, McGee, Emily! Why don't you all come with me," he requested as he began heading toward his morgue.

"Snore-fest in ten… nine…," Tony muttered as he followed his coworkers.

Jenny watched the group go and waited for the doors to close. She headed over to the wall of tools and opened a drawer. "I knew it!"

"What is it, Director?" Fornell asked, making himself comfortable in a chair.

"What's Jethro's basement without a bottle of bourbon?" Colonel Mann said with a scoff, looking at the bottle in Jenny's hand.

"Now how'd your agents get a hold of that?" Fornell asked, looking at the director questioningly.

Jenny smiled and did not answer.

* * *

"Abby, what are you doing?" Gibbs asked impatiently.

Abby sat down at Gibbs' computer and began typing away. "I still have something else for you! And don't you start complaining!"

Gibbs looked skyward and walked the length of the bull pen several times before Abby grinned widely. She picked the small camera off the top of Gibbs' computer screen and placed it on top of the plasma screen. "Ready, Gibbs?" she asked.

"Abby," Gibbs growled.

Ignoring the angry tone, Abby hit a few more keys and turned toward the plasma as a face appeared on it.

"Jethro!" said a young blonde woman warmly. "Happy birthday!"

"Maddie?" Gibbs asked disbelievingly. "Maddie Tyler?"

"Well don't sound so thrilled," Maddie scolded jokingly. "You might hurt yourself!"

Gibbs turned to his forensic scientist. "Abby, no one – "

"Gibbs, do you honestly think I'd set this up without getting the all-clear first?" Abby asked absentmindedly, playing minesweeper on the computer.

"I know, I know," Maddie sighed. "You're somewhere top secret and I can't ask any questions. Abby told me the other day when she called. "

Gibbs smiled slightly and shook his head. "How are you doing?"

Maddie's face split into a broad grin. "I'm glad you asked! First off, I'm going to be graduating this year, and you are coming."

"I'll be there," Gibbs confirmed.

Abby suddenly popped out of her chair. "I hear a ding! I hear a ding!" she said excitedly, running out of the bull pen.

Gibbs turned his attention back to Maddie. "Anything else?"

Maddie's smile grew, if possible, wider. "Do you remember Jacob Wolf?"

Gibbs thought for a moment. "Short, green-eyed kid. His father was a Navy captain."

"That's him!" Maddie said brightly. "He's also the kid that tried to kiss Kelly at her eighth birthday party. I don't think Shannon ever told you, though. Thought it was best if you didn't know."

A voice whose face was out of view shouted, "Maddie's making that up, sir!"

"That you, Jake?" Gibbs said amusedly.

Jake, a now tall man with broad shoulders, sat down next to Maddie so Gibbs could see him. "Hi, Gunny!"

"You tried to kiss my daughter?" Gibbs asked.

"Sir, I would never – "

"You're lucky I wasn't home, Wolf." Gibbs smiled at the younger man, finding it difficult to be in a bad mood.

"Oh, Kelly got him," Maddie said teasingly. "Got him right in the nose!"

Jake rubbed his nose absentmindedly. "You taught her well, Gunny."

"Well yeah, Jake, with kids like you around I had to!"

"Back to the point," Maddie said, her smile breaking out once more. "Jake and I had kept in touch even after we moved away and last year he found me and one thing led to another and…" Maddie held up her left hand to the camera to show off a golden ring with a diamond set into it.

"Congratulations," Gibbs said warmly. Suddenly turning stony faced, he looked at Jake. "You hurt her and I'll do more than give you a shot in the nose, Wolf."

"I don't doubt it, Gunny!" Jacob said seriously.

"Jethro, I was thinking," Maddie said, her tone cautious, "that since my dad's gone you might like to take me down the aisle."

"I'd be honored, Miss Tyler," Gibbs said cordially, his lips twitching upward.

"Are you sure?" Maddie questioned. "Because if you don't want to I totally understand."

"I'm sure, Maddie," Gibbs assured.

Maddie sighed with relief. "In that case, let's move on to the present I'll give you when you get back home!"

"I'm stepping out of this one," Jake said quickly as he jumped out of Gibbs' view. "Going for a run! See you, Gunny!"

"Maddie, I don't want any presents," Gibbs said exasperatedly.

"Yes, you do," Maddie said as she reached out to the side. "I was going through my closet and I found a huge box of photos. I went through them all and got a bunch of them copied. I started a scrapbook with them and made my apartment more of a mess than it started out as! Whether you want it or not, you're taking it!

"Let me show you a couple of my favorite ones," Maddie requested, flipping through pages.

"Maddie, I don't want – " Gibbs was cut off as Maddie held the book up to the camera. The picture was one of many scenes it hurt Gibbs to remember.

Kelly sat on a swing, a huge grin plastered to her face. Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs stood behind her in uniform, pushing, a smile of equal caliber on his own face.

"I took that one," Maddie said proudly, taking the picture down to flip through the book some more.

"Not bad for a seven year old that couldn't usually hold still long enough to get her own picture taken," Gibbs joked.

"That was my strategy!" Maddie defended herself. "Here's another one."

The picture was of the whole Gibbs family. Jethro and Shannon sat on their couch with easy smiles as Kelly lay across them, her head propped up on her elbow.

"Agent Gibbs," said a voice from behind.

Gibbs turned to see none other than Professor McGonagall, two robed figures behind her. He turned back toward Maddie. "I'll have to call you back, Maddie."

Maddie sighed and closed the book. "Duty calls," she said sadly. "I'll leave the graduation and wedding information on your table when I make sure no one robbed you in your long absence. I know you didn't lock your door!"

Gibbs smiled. "Thanks."

Maddie waved and the screen went blank.

Gibbs walked across the bull pen. "Professor?"

"These, Agent Gibbs, are Lavender Brown's parents. I believe you wanted to speak with them?" McGonagall said.

"Not me," Gibbs replied. "Mr. and Mrs. Brown, please head on up the stairs and to your right. Someone will be in to talk to you in just a moment." Gibbs turned and headed towards Abby's lab and walked until he came to the plain wooden door.

"How's Maddie, Jethro?" Jenny asked as Gibbs walked into the replica of his basement.

"Holly, the Browns are here," Gibbs said shortly.

Colonel Mann looked skyward. "Took them long enough. I'm borrowing McGee," she said as she walked out of the room.

Jenny pulled her phone off her side and looked at it. "Oh, joy," she said sarcastically. "I'll be up in MTAC."

Fornell pulled himself off the wall. "I'll leave you to start on your boat, Gibbs. Emily ought to go to bed before hell breaks loose, no?" He chuckled a bit on his way out.

Gibbs watched and waited until the door closed behind Fornell. He dug his wallet out of his pocket and pulled out a picture. Kelly Gibbs and an eight-year-old version of Maddie Tyler grinned up at him, sitting on a pile of dirt they had unearthed. Gibbs smiled to himself briefly before exhaling and letting his smile fall. His blue eyes went blank and he quickly put the picture back in his wallet before grabbing a plank of wood.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - _Confide Diligenter_ (subject to change)

Here's your Christmas present! Yes, Christmas. I apologize if you don't celebrate it, but I do. So that's what I will say. And if you are offended by such a thing, I'll be happy to let you yell at me.

I love reviews more than rainbows and leprechauns!


	44. Confide Diligenter

_**Confide Diligenter**_

"How long does it take someone to tell someone else just how much rape messes a girl up?" Tony asked, spinning around in his chair.

Ziva threw a wadded up piece of paper at her coworker. "It will take as long as it takes, DiNozzo!" she snapped.

"I'm just curious, Ziva," Tony said sourly, unfolding the paper thrown at him. "It's been an hour and a half. I'm curious as to what the Director's doing, too."

"I would assume that Director Sheppard is talking to other important officials trying to straighten out something that needs it," Ziva said smartly.

Tony sat up and leaned forward on his elbows. "You think Gibbs likes his basement?"

Ziva allowed herself to smile. "He has been down there for over an hour."

A door upstairs opened and closed a moment later. Tony spun his chair to face the stairs. "Where are the Browns?" he asked.

"You and I are going to get the third Brown, DiNozzo," Colonel Mann said. "Up."

"Is she cleared to leave?" Tony questioned.

"The Director and Madame Pomfery cleared her to leave days ago," snapped the Colonel without stopping her progress towards the door. "Now let's go!"

"Going, going!" Tony said, getting up.

Ziva sat in the bull pen alone. She looked up at the door to MTAC, a feeling of unease developing. Jenny had been up there for a long time. Something big had to be happening.

McGee came down the stairs and sat down heavily in his chair.

"How did they take it?" Ziva asked.

"Not well," McGee answered. "They felt bad enough to begin with, and then Colonel Mann began guilt tripping them."

"You were supposed to stop her from doing that, McGee!" Ziva said, getting out of her chair and walking to McGee's desk.

"Ziva, I tried! I finally got her to shut up by suggesting we get Lavender."

"I will get Gibbs," Ziva stated. "He will want to be here to see Lavender leave." She headed off toward Abby's lab.

McGee leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. He felt completely exhausted.

* * *

"McGee," said a low voice.

McGee opened his eyes and looked at his boss' unhappy face. "Uhh.. duh… um…"

"Taking a nap, McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"I didn't realize I'd fallen asleep, Boss! I'm – "

Gibbs held up a finger. "Never say you're sorry, McGee! How many times am I going to have to tell you?" Gibbs pointed his finger towards Abby's lab.

Not needing verbal orders, McGee got out of his chair and hurried off to Abby's.

"How long ago did they leave to get Lavender?" Gibbs asked Ziva, going to his own desk and tapping a few keys.

Ziva looked at her watch. "The Colonel and DiNozzo left about seven minutes ago. If they are not having difficulties, they should be back in five."

"Did McGee keep Colonel Mann in check?"

"He did not," Ziva said shortly.

Gibbs sighed, headed up the stairs, and disappeared behind a door.

Ziva looked at the doors to MTAC once more. What was going on? Being unable to resist any longer, Ziva began heading toward the stairs. Her progress was stopped when she heard the main door to the room open.

Tony stepped on the first step and saw his coworker half way up. "You wanna get them?"

"Yes," Ziva said, slipping into emotionlessness. "I will get them."

A moment later, Ziva stood outside the door. She took a deep breath, knocked, and opened the door after a slight pause. "She is here," the Israeli announced, holding the door open.

Mr. and Mrs. Brown launched out of their chairs and hurried down to their daughter. The agents all stood back to let the family have their space.

Just as the Browns were getting ready to leave, Jenny came heavily down the stairs. Her feet dragged as she walked toward the family. The woman took a deep breath and began speaking in an unsteady voice, "New orders from Minister of Magic and SecNav. No witnesses are to leave Hogwarts grounds until the case is solved and the culprit punished. Effective immediately."

The tears sliding down Mrs. Brown and Lavender's face sped up dramatically and Mr. Brown put his arms protectively around his family. "Are you saying I can't take my daughter home?" the man asked.

"Jen," Gibbs said dangerously, walking toward her.

"I'm truly sorry," Jenny addressed the family. "Their minds are made up. Lavender has to stay." Jenny raised her voice slightly as the girl began sobbing loudly. "We can make up a room for her and she can stay here, with us. We can keep a close eye on her and you are welcome to visit whenever."

Mrs. Brown lowered herself to be at eye level with her daughter. She tucked a lock of hair behind Lavender's ear. "We'll get this sorted out, ok? You'll be home soon."

Lavender nodded. She and her parents shared a long hug before the couple stormed out, whispering to each other quickly. The girl sat down on the floor and covered her face.

Gibbs walked silently over to Ziva. "Go make her up a room. Get Abby to help."

Ziva nodded and moved to Abby's lab quietly.

Jenny nodded at Gibbs and headed back upstairs to argue more with officials, Colonel Mann coming up behind her. Tony went back to his desk, his lips tight and face taunt. He began aggressively hitting keys on his keyboard and slamming drawers shut. "Some days this job really sucks," he muttered to himself.

Gibbs sat down against a wall and watched. Lavender eventually cried herself to sleep. Gibbs carried her to the room Ziva and Abby had made up and stormed up to MTAC. The man was red-faced, narrow-eyed, and ready to argue and shout.

Tony leaned back in his chair and exhaled.

"So I'm not going home anytime soon, either," said a voice.

Tony jumped up and spun around at the same time, finding himself facing Cedric Diggory. "Why aren't you in your room?"

Cedric shrugged. "I got bored and there wasn't anyone down here I would really disturb."

Tony sat back down at his desk. "Yeah, you're here until we find the person messing with us all."

"At that rate I'll be here for another couple of years," Cedric said, coming around to the front of Tony's desk. He pulled out his wand and literally drew a chair in the air. It fell to the floor and he sat in it.

"I thought Officer David took that from you," Tony said as the boy pocketed his wand. He was rather proud of himself for not showing his shock. Perhaps, he began to think, he had been at Hogwarts far too long.

"She did," Cedric admitted. "Professor Sprout got it back for me so I could keep up with my school work."

"I'd be taking full advantage of this situation if I were you," Tony said, giving up on the paperwork before him. "You could get away with not doing your work right now."

Cedric gave a hint of a smile. "I finished all of my work already. I don't want time to think."

"That feeling will pass," Tony said.

"Have you ever killed someone?" Cedric asked.

Tony looked to boy straight in the eye. "Every once and a while you aren't left with any other option. It's them or you, maybe someone dependent on you."

"I had an option," Cedric said sourly. "I could have not done it."

"Cedric," Tony said seriously, "you didn't have another option. This guy, whoever he is, was controlling your mind. You said yourself that you never wanted to do it."

"But I did it!" Cedric snapped. "I made the potion; I put it in her drink! I watched her start to cough up blood and did _nothing_!"

"Did you want to help?" Tony asked.

"Yes!"

"Did you try to help?"

"Of course I did!"

"Did he let you try?"

"No…"

"You aren't a bad person, Cedric. Something bad has just happened to you. Yeah, it affected someone else, but it was out of your control. You didn't know how to fight back. Think about it. Was there anything you could have done to make things different? Let me know when you've come up with an answer." Tony went back his paperwork. He heard Cedric get up and go back to his room.

Agent DiNozzo sat back in his chair, feeling a bit proud of himself, but more tired than anything.

"What is this? National Nap Day?" Gibbs said aggressively, coming into the bull pen. "Get up, DiNozzo! You're on patrol!"

"They're not budging, Boss?" Tony asked as he put on his jacket.

"No," Gibbs sighed. "They're not."

* * *

"Aren't you supposed to be patrolling about now?"

Ziva looked up from her book to see Hermione Granger, a face that was rapidly becoming familiar. "Are you not supposed to be heading back to your room now?"

"I have ten more minutes," Hermione said briskly. "I was looking for one more book. Madame Pince said you had it. I was wondering if you were anywhere close to done?"

Ziva closed the book and pushed it toward Hermione. "What class do you need a book about flying creatures for? I was told you had more than enough material for your Care of Magical Creatures class."

"It's not for Care of Magical Creatures," Hermione said as she tried to stuff the book in her bag. "It's for Buckbeak's case."

"Buckbeak?"

"Hagrid's hippogriff. Come on!" Hermione said impatiently, still unsuccessful in getting the book into her overstuffed bag.

"Hippogriffs can read?" Ziva asked confusedly.

"Of course not!" Hermione said irritably. "Malfoy ticked Buckbeak off our first class this year. I'm helping Hagrid prepare Buckbeak for trial. If Buckbeak's convicted, he dies."

Ziva still felt confused. Before she could ask more questions, however, Hermione's bag burst at the seams.

"Stupid, cheap thing!" Hermione fumed.

"Are you ready to - I guess not," said another girl, coming into sight.

"Ginny Weasley," Ziva said slowly.

"Yeah, that's me," Ginny answered. "And you're Officer David. Glad we know each other."

"Is it true that you hexed a sixth year yesterday?" Ziva asked, a small smile on her lips.

"That idiot deserved it," Ginny said without remorse. "People need to learn to leave first years alone!"

"I will carry a few of those for you," Ziva offered Hermione, holding out her hands.

"Thanks!" Hermione said gratefully. She handed several books to Ziva and Ginny and the three left the library.

"I heard Lavender went home today," Hermione said happily, trying to ease the silence.

"Her parents came today, yes," Ziva said, trying to dance around the question. No more rumors needed to be started.

"That's good. It's about time she go home!"

"Hey, Hermione," Ginny said behind a stack of books, "Do you want to go watch Quidditch practice with me tomorrow?"

"I can't, Ginny," Hermione answered.

"That's alright; I just thought I'd offer."

"Tell me more about Buckbeak," Ziva requested.

"I'm sick of that name," Hermione muttered.

"I'll tell the story," Ginny offered. "It was the first day of classes, and Gryffindor third years got stuck with Slytherin third years for Care of Magical Creatures. They were working with Hippogriffs, and if you know anything about them – "

"Then you know that they are very proud, dangerous creatures," Ziva said with a nod. "Continue."

"Right. Well that was the first thing Hagrid told them, 'Don't upset the Hippogriffs!' Of course Malfoy didn't listen. The first thing he did was insult Buckbeak, the hippogriff he was working with. Buckbeak gave him a mere scratch on the arm. Malfoy went around for weeks with a sling on his arm that was perfectly fine. Stupid git. He's just trying to get Hagrid fired," Ginny finished with a snort.

"I do not like that child," Ziva said. "But I should not have told you that. So we will let that be our secret, shall we?"

"You're not alone," Hermione said.

"And everyone already knows all of you hate him," Ginny said with a shrug. "It's no secret."

"Hate is a strong word, Miss Weasley," Ziva pointed out. "There are few who I do hate."

"If you don't hate Malfoy, who do you hate?" Ginny questioned.

"Those who I do hate are not people you should have to worry about," Ziva answered.

"You're Israeli, right?" Hermione asked.

"I am," Ziva said with pride. "Is this not your hallway?"

"Do we really have to go by him again?" Ginny whined.

"I'm sick of him too, Ginny, but that's the only way in!" Hermione sighed.

"Who are you talking about?" Ziva asked.

"Fair ladies!" boomed a voice. "Back from yet another adventure, are we?"

"Sir Cadogan," Ginny said agitatedly in greeting.

"_Confide diligenter,_" Hermione said clearly to the small knight.

"In you go!" said the knight as the portrait swung open.

"'_Trust carefully,'_" Ziva said.

"A rather fitting phrase at this point in time, is it not?" Hermione said absentmindedly. "I can take those books now. Thanks!"

"No problem," Ziva said, handing the books over. The portrait closed back up. Ziva bid Sir Cadogan a good night and began heading across the school to the Room of Requirement. As she walked further, Ziva's gut began to bug her, as if she were being followed. The Israeli kept her hand poised over her gun and crept through the halls, her eyes peeled.

Ziva heard footsteps coming around the corner behind her. She quickly jumped behind a suit of armor, gun poised, and waited. A figure came into sight and she leapt at it, pinning it to the wall.

"McGee!" Ziva exclaimed.

"What the hell, Ziva?" McGee snapped.

"Do not sneak up on people like that!"

"I wasn't sneaking! Gibbs sent me to find you! What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing is the matter with me, McGee!" Ziva said forcefully.

"Alright! Then would you mind letting me go?" McGee asked.

Ziva released her hold. "Sorry."

McGee rolled his neck. "It's alright," he sighed with relief. "Let's get back before you give someone a concussion."

Ziva narrowed her eyes at her coworker and followed him down the hall.

* * *

**Author's Note**

"That was a pointless chapter!"

"This wasn't worth my reading!"

"AR RAWR RAWR RAWR!"

I realized it was a fairly blah chapter after I made things that happen in it necessary. I couldn't get rid of it. So, I will update in 2 days. Yay!

Anywho....leave me a review, por favor!

Oh! P.S. The next chapter does not yet have a name.


	45. Bloody Scoreboard

**Bloody Scoreboard**

"Anyone else think we've been here too long?" Tony asked as he watched a boy turn his friend into a badger and felt only mildly surprised.

Professor McGonagall followed Tony's gaze down to her table of Gryffindors and promptly got out of her seat to scold the performers.

"Yes, I do," Ziva said, leaning back against her chair. "We should have left seven minutes ago when we finished eating."

Tony looked over at his coworker. "Hogwarts, Ziva. Not dinner. We've been at Hogwarts too long."

"I like it here! I wonder if – " Abby began.

"We're not staying longer than we have to, Abby," Gibbs harshly shot down the forensic scientist's hopes.

"Where are Ducky and the Colonel?" Tony inquired, turning toward his boss.

"Ducky's working. Colonel Mann is eating with Lavender," Gibbs answered.

"That's the third night in a row Miss Brown has asked one of us to stay with her." Tony sighed and put a hand on his stomach. "Oh, I need to stop eating when I'm full!"

Ziva poked Tony in the stomach aggressively.

"Ow! What was that for?" Tony asked moodily.

"For being so heartless! Lavender is lonely, bored, and upset! If she wants someone to eat with her, so be it," Ziva snapped.

"Can we just switch the whole 'innocent until proven guilty' phrase around? Let's just chuck them all in jail and take them out as clues emerge," Tony suggested.

"You can deal with their parents, DiNozzo," Gibbs said as he stood up.

"Oh, hey, boss!" Tony said quickly. "I'm going to supervise the Quidditch practice that starts in fifteen minutes."

Ziva chuckled. "Supervise? Do you mean drool and wish you could play?" she teased.

"If you miss your patrol, DiNozzo…" Gibbs let his sentence trail.

"I will be at the height of punctuality for my patrol, Boss!" Tony said seriously.

Gibbs nodded and turned around once more.

"I will be accompanying Agent DiNozzo," Ziva said.

Gibbs faced the table once more. He raised his eyebrows and opened his hands, waiting for explanation.

"Ginny Weasley said she is going to watch the practice. She is another student I believe could be very helpful," Ziva explained.

"Anyone else want to say anything else before I turn around again?" Gibbs asked irritably. After waiting a second he turned and strode out of the hall.

Tony waited until he could no longer see his boss before popping out of his chair. "Let's go, Ziva!"

"Now?" Ziva questioned. "We will be there before the team!"

"No, we won't," Tony said incredulously. "They all left ten minutes ago."

"Are you going to go watch Quidditch?" asked Emily excitedly. "Can I come? Can I go? Dad! Dad! Can I go?" she questioned, jumping up and down in her seat.

Fornell looked at Ziva, who nodded. "You don't go anywhere by yourself; stay right by Officer David, do you understand?"

"Yes, Daddy," Emily said, smiling widely. "I understand."

"What did I just tell you?" Fornell asked, his face stony and serious.

"You told me to stay by Ziva and I can't wander off," Emily repeated her orders.

"Alright," Fornell said, sounding rather uneasy about letting his daughter out of his sight.

Emily jumped out of her seat, grabbed Ziva's hand, and began pulling. "Let's _go_! I haven't ever seen a practice before!"

"Put your coat on," Ziva commanded. "It is cold outside."

Emily quickly shrugged on her coat and resumed pulling Ziva out of the hall. Tony followed, smiling as his colleague got jerked about.

* * *

Emily, Ziva, and Tony arrived at the Quidditch pitch to see little Ginny Weasley arguing with Oliver Wood.

"Come on, Wood! You really think I'd go off and tell the Ravenclaws what you all are doing in practice?" Ginny said heatedly.

"Sorry, Ginny! I'm not letting any students in! We're learning some new plays today! You know I don't like other people around then!" Wood said back.

"I'm related to a third of that team!" Ginny snarled.

"Look, Ginny," Wood said, starting to get agitated, "go back to the school. You can come watch next practice when I'm not giving so many pointers."

"Are we having a problem here, students?" Tony asked, walking up to the two.

"DiNozzo!" Wood said, holding out his hand. "How are you?"

Tony shook the team captain's hand. "I'm doing alright. Down here to supervise."

"They aren't coming with you, are they?" Wood asked, looking at Ziva and Emily.

"Emily wanted to see a practice," Tony explained.

Wood walked over to Emily and lowered himself to eye level. "Hey there, Emily! I'm Oliver."

"Hi, Oliver!" Emily said brightly.

"We're going to have a really boring practice today. Why don't you come back in a few days, eh? Maybe you can help us out a bit then," Wood suggested.

"Why not today?" Emily whined.

"Today's going to be really boring," Wood said. "Talking, mostly."

"Alright," Emily sighed. "But I get to help when I do come!"

"It's a deal!" Wood exclaimed, sticking out his hand once more. He and the young girl shook hands.

Ziva put a hand on Emily's shoulder and turned her away from the pitch. "Ginny? Come on, we will walk back to the school with you."

Ginny huffed, but began walking. "He just won't let me in because he knows I got ticked off at Fred and George yesterday. He thinks I'll run off the Ravenclaws as revenge. Does he really think I'm a turncoat? Stupid," she muttered.

"Ziva," Emily said excitedly, "can we go down to the lake? Please?"

Ziva looked down at Emily, then at Ginny. "Ask Miss Weasley if she would mind making a quick stop," she told the young girl.

Emily smiled and looked at Ginny. "Do you want to come to the lake?"

Ginny's lips twitched upward. "I bet I could beat you there."

"Nuh-huh! I'm the fastest in my class!" Emily said proudly.

"Well let's see!" Ginny challenged. "On three! One… two…"

"Three!" Emily shouted and took off. Ginny hurried to catch up.

Ziva walked behind, keeping an eye on the girls. Ginny was sure to keep just a few steps behind Emily. By the time the two had almost made it to the lake they had slowed to a jog.

The Israeli knew something was wrong when Ginny suddenly stopped and began looking around on the ground. "My wand!" she heard the girl say loudly. "Where'd my wand go?!"

Ziva began picking up pace, unease growing. She broke into a panicked sprint and drew her gun as a figure came out of seemingly nowhere. It picked Emily up and threw her into the lake as far as it could.

"Ginny!" Ziva shouted as loud as she could, pointing her gun at the figure as it ran toward the red-head. "Move!"

Ginny turned quickly and dove off to the side.

Ziva fired twice, aiming to just barely miss. "Stop!" she shouted. The figure did not listen. It continued to run toward her, full speed. Knowing shooting the wrong person would end in more trouble than one could understand, Ziva threw her gun back into its holster and prepared to fight with her bare hands.

The figure ran right past Ziva and disappeared in the school's shadows.

Ziva waited with baited breath. Emily's terrified screams made her turn around. The lake had pulled the girl far out of arm's reach.

"Ginny!" Ziva called, pulling off her jacket. "Run inside. Get Gibbs. Get McGonagall. Get anyone!" She turned took a few steps back from the lake and prepared to make a running dive.

Ginny stood up from her hiding spot, nodded, and began heading off.

Before Ziva even knew what had happened, her gun had been pulled out of her holster. She heard a shot fired, and then something hit her over the head and darkness took over all her senses.

* * *

Tony concentrated as he watched the Gryffindors practice Quidditch. The sport was one of the most interesting he had ever seen. So much went on at the same time it was difficult to keep up with and impossible to be bored with. If the agent were to be honest, he was also looking for tricks to try out on patrol. His partner was still Madame Hooch, and they patrolled the grounds. Madame Hooch still found walking around slow and overrated, which Tony was perfectly alright with.

Tony was pulled out of his daze by the familiar ring of his phone. "Anthony DiNozzo," he said with excessive politeness.

"DiNozzo," said Gibbs, unimpressed, "go check out the grounds. See where Ziva is."

"Boss, Ziva left here fifteen minutes ago. She's gotta be back up at base. Probably just slipped past you, ninja she is," Tony said. He bit back a cheer as Potter caught the Snitch just a foot from the ground.

"Hey, Tony!" Gibbs barked.

"I'm here, Boss!"

"Then what did I just tell you?"

"To go check for Ziva, Special Agent Gibbs!"

"No, I told you that a student thinks she heard shots fired. Have you even gotten up off of your butt yet?" Gibbs questioned.

"Shots, boss?"

"Yes, DiNozzo! Shots! Go find your teammate! McGee will join you shortly."

"Going, Boss!" Tony hung up his phone and climbed down the stands in a hurry.

"Ziva David!" Tony called out as he power-walked across the school grounds. "If you're making me wander around in the cold for no reason I'm dismantling your chair again!" He chuckled at the memory.

Something in the corner of Tony's eye caught his attention. He slowly turned his head toward the red on the school's walls. "Damn…"

Tony quickly grabbed his phone with one hand and his gun with the other. He dialed on the phone and waited.

"Tony! Where the hell are you? I'm over by the pitch and – "

"McGee!" Tony cut the junior agent off. "I'm by the school. You need to get over here fast."

"Tony, what's going on?" McGee asked slowly.

"Why don't you get over here and see for yourself?" Tony smartly replied. He shut his phone and stood completely still to listen. He heard faint calls and followed them carefully toward the lake. The agent moved quicker as the cries grew louder, eventually breaking into a run.

"Emily!" Tony shouted, finally seeing the source of the screaming.

"T-T-Tony!" Emily yelled, her teeth chattering. Half way across the lake, the girl struggled to keep her head above water

Tony moved as quickly as he could, ripping off his jacket as he went. He ditched his gun closer to the lake and dove in. "Keep your head up!" he coached between breaths.

"I'm t-trying!" Emily said shortly as she bobbed up and down.

Tony put, if possible, more effort into moving his arms as Emily began taking a longer time to come up after each time she went down. After what seemed like an hour, Tony reached the small girl.

"Hold on to me!" Tony instructed as he pulled Emily onto his back. As soon as he felt her fingers close on him, he took off. The agent kept his mind on his arms moving and Emily's hands clasped around his neck and tried to ignore the ice cold water all around him.

Tony reached the bank. A hand grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him out of the water. He felt the weight of Emily leave his back and turned over to breathe better.

"No, DiNozzo," said a firm voice. "Up! Move around!"

"Why am I always the one going after people in water?" Tony asked.

Gibbs pulled Tony up off the ground and gave the younger man the jacket he had abandoned on the way to the lake. "Go. Run and tell Ducky what happened. Tell him to get ready."

Tony took his jacket with thanks and ran to the school as fast as his sluggish legs would let him.

Gibbs turned to McGee, who was wrapping his jacket around Emily. Gibbs walked over to the girl and wrung out her dripping hair. He took off his NCIS hat, tightened the band in the back, and put it on the girl's head. "Come on, inside," he said, pushing her forward a bit.

Gibbs saw Fornell come out the Entrance Hall doors, look around briefly, and run toward the small group of people.

"Dad!" Emily called.

Fornell reached the group and pulled off his jacket to give Emily a second layer. He scooped his daughter up, gave Gibbs a worried look, and ran back into the school.

"Boss…" McGee said slowly as he and Gibbs looked over the grounds. "Ziva was supposed to be watching Emily."

"I know that, McGee," Gibbs said lowly, looking around the grounds once more. A splash of red on the school's walls caught his attention.

Drawn in blood on the stone wall was a tally board. One column was labeled 'NCIS.' It only had one tally mark underneath it. The other column was titled 'Me.' This one had a dozen marks under it. Beneath the entire chart was a message: _Mouths ought to be kept shut._

Gibbs looked at the tallies and went down the list of what they could be. There was McDonald, Brown, Parkinson, Madley, Diggory, and Clearwater. That left six. Gibbs added the two chases and Emily, leaving three marks unaccounted for. He exhaled.

One of the marks was for Ziva. Ziva, however, could handle herself, wherever she may be. What began to concern Gibbs more were the two tallies that did not have an explanation. Two victims were unaccounted for.

* * *

**Author's Note**

I'm a bad author. The next chapter doesn't have a name... again.

Anywho... your update, as promised! Please leave me a review! :D


	46. Warming Up

**Warming Up  
**

Gibbs entered the Room of Requirement and slammed the door behind himself. He stomped over to his desk, ripped off his coat, and threw his gun and badge into a drawer.

"I'll go tell the Director," McGee offered. He began heading up the stairs.

"You tell her to come down to Ducky's," Gibbs ordered. He disappeared behind the morgue doors.

"Jethro!" Ducky exclaimed as Gibbs came in. "Could you grab that mug of hot chocolate? Yes, that one right there."

Gibbs grabbed the mug of hot chocolate and a cup of coffee. He handed the hot chocolate to a shivering Emily and the coffee to DiNozzo, who was rubbing his hands together. "Need to talk to you, Duck!"

"Can't it wait, Jethro? I'm a little busy!" Ducky said as he checked Emily's pulse.

Gibbs huffed, but leaned against a wall and waited.

Fornell came through the morgue doors with several blankets in his hands. He threw one to Tony before beginning to wrap the rest around Emily.

"Where's Ziva?" Emily asked Gibbs.

No one answered.

"Where is she?" Emily asked again, more urgently.

"We don't know, Em," Fornell finally admitted.

"What about the other girl?"

"Other girl? Who are you talking about?"

"Ginny Weasley!" Tony said with realization. "Boss, the teachers need to take roll!"

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said lowly.

Tony began talking very quickly. "Oh, Boss! We've got a problem! When we got to the Quidditch pitch Ginny Weasley was arguing with Wood, the team captain. He sent her away and Ziva offered to take her back to the school..."

"Yeah!" Emily confirmed. "Ginny and I raced to the lake! Ziva was behind us!"

Gibbs raced out of the morgue. "Professor!" he called to the woman entering the bull pen.

"Agent Gibbs," McGonagall said. "What is - "

"Go call the Weasleys. Ginny's missing."

"Missing?" McGonagall asked, completely stunned."What do you mean, missing?"

"I'll explain once the Weasleys are here!" Gibbs said aggresively. He went up the stairs, his foot only falling on every other step. "Jen!"

Thinking owls were far too slow for a situation such as this, Professor McGonagall waved her wand through the air. A silver creature burst out of its tip and quickly slinked out of sight. McGonagall exited the Room of Requirement to inform Dumbledore and await the Weasleys' arrival.

* * *

"What do you mean, 'missing,' Jethro?" Jen asked.

"Just that! Missing!" Gibbs exclaimed.

"What about Ziva?"

"M.I.A.," Gibbs answered.

"Damn," Jenny hissed. "Damn it! McGee, get me Eli David."

"Don't you think we're jumping to conclusions, Director?" McGee asked.

"Do it, McGee!" Jenny snapped. "I do not want any more of an international issue on my hands because you think we're jumping the gun!"

McGee turned to the wall of boards and began typing away. As Eli David's face appeared on the massive screen, the junior agent followed his boss back down to the bull pen.

"Boss, Ziva's a... a..." McGee stuttered as he searched for the right word.

"Even the best get bested sometimes, McGee," Gibbs said heavily. He walked into the middle of the bull pen, looked at Ziva's empty and fairly organized desk, and kicked his own.

Tony came into the bull pen, still wrapped up in a blanket. "Boss, Emily says she didn't see everything, but Ginny doesn't have her wand and she heard shots fired."

Gibbs tightened his lips and looked around, his eyes dangerously narrowed. "Anything else?"

"No, Boss," Tony said promptly. "She went under and by the time she had come back up, they were all gone."

"McGee," said Gibbs, "go get Professor Sprout. You and her go get Hagrid. Check over the grounds and the forest."

"Oh! McGoo!" Tony called after the retreating junior agent. "Get Madame Hooch, too! She can make things go faster."

McGee nodded and left the room.

"Boss, you don't really think someone could have gotten the best of Ziva, do you? I mean, come on! She's a crazy Mossad ninja assassin!" Tony said, trying not only to convince Gibbs, but himself.

"I don't know, Tony," Gibbs sighed. "We'll have to wait. Start looking through her desk, see if there's anything that could help."

"Don't you think we should wait until we're sure - Checking her desk, Boss!" Tony said at a murderous glance from Gibbs.

The door to the room flung open. A fairly short, plump, and kindly looking witch bustled in with a taller, balding man wearing glasses. Both new arrivals had flaming red hair, giving away their identity. Professor McGonagall came after them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley?" Gibbs asked, merely confirming his assumption.

"You're the Muggles, then?" Mrs. Weasley spoke quickly and with short breath. "What's happened? Where's Ginny?"

"We don't know," Gibbs admitted. "She was walking back from the Quidditch pitch with two other people. They were ambushed. We have yet to find Ginny or our agent."

"Ambushed?" Mrs. Weasley gasped. "Are you sure she hasn't just wandered off? She does that from time to time..."

"One of my agents disappeared with her," Gibbs said. "My agents don't 'just wander off,' Mrs. Weasley."

"Molly, why don't you sit down?" Mr. Weasley said to his wife. "I'll go get everyone else and have Ron owl Bill and Charlie."

"No, Arthur," Professor McGonagall argued, "I'll get them and send the owls."

"Thank you, Professor," Mr. Weasley said.

McGonagall swept out of the room.

"Feel free to sit down," Gibbs offered, gesturing toward the couch that appeared against the wall. Mrs. Weasley quickly sank into it, putting her forehead in her hand.

"Uh, Boss?" Tony said from Ziva's desk, his phone pressed against his face. Once Gibbs was at the desk, leaning over, Tony spoke again. "McGee found Ziva's gun and Ginny's wand."

"Any news on Ziva and Ginny?" Gibbs asked quietly.

"Any news on Ziva and Ginny?" Tony said into the phone. After a moment, he looked at Gibbs. "No. Madam Hooch is in the air, Hagrid's in the forest, and McGee and Sprout are wandering the grounds. Nothing other than the gun and wand.

"Wait! McGee just found Ziva's coat. Oh, Boss! It's really, really cold out," Tony informed.

"What's the condition of the gun and wand?" Gibbs quietly snarled.

Tony held out his phone to Gibbs. "This might be easier."

Gibbs ripped the phone out of Tony's hand. "McGee - "

"I heard, Boss," McGee said. "The wand looks fine. But Ziva's gun... I think there's blood on the handle."

Gibbs struggled to keep himself from flinging the phone across the room. "Check the magazine."

There was a slight pause as McGee checked the weapon. "Three missing."

"You keep looking, McGee. Find me something else!"

"Yes, Boss!"

Gibbs hung up the phone and looked at Tony, who was struggling with a drawer. "Ziva invested in locks," Tony explained.

Gibbs strode over to his desk and pulled out a small screwdriver. "Pick 'em," he told Tony, throwing the screwdriver through the air.

"If she walks in while I'm doing this..." Tony let his sentence trail off as he jammed the screwdriver into a lock.

Jenny came down from MTAC. "Director David has asked us to keep him informed on Ziva's case," she told Gibbs.

"'Asked,'" Gibbs scoffed. "How bad?"

"Pretty damn," Jenny answered. She turned toward the witch and wizard on the couch. "Director Jenny Sheppard," she introduced herself, walking over and extending her hand.

"Molly and Arthur Weasley," Mr. Weasley said, shaking Jenny's hand.

"I'm sorry we don't have much to tell you right now," Jenny said. "When we know something, you'll know."

The door to the Room of Requirement burst open and four red headed boys ran in. "Mum!" shouted one of the twins. Jenny crept back upstairs as the parents became distracted with their children.

"Dad!" shouted the other twin.

"Has she really gone, again?" Percy asked.

Mrs. Weasley grabbed her closest son and hugged him tightly as opposed to verbally responding.

With his wife occupied, Mr. Weasley got up off the couch and walked over to Gibbs. "Might I have a word?"

Gibbs nodded and led Mr. Weasley behind the stairs.

"How bad is this situation?" Mr. Weasley asked. "Ginny disappeared last year, Ron's gone missing a few times... I don't want Molly to think things are worse than they are."

Gibbs considered. "It's bad," he said. "This is the work of the same person that you've been hearing about since mid-October."

"Tell me about that. I don't trust the _Daily Prophet _when it comes to things like this," Mr. Weasley eagerly requested.

Gibbs sighed. "He's killed four students, raped one, and attacked two others that we know of."

Mr. Weasley rubbed the back of his neck.

"We think Ginny is with one of our agents. If that's the case, she'll do everything she can to get Ginny back here safely."

"If she's still even alive," said a boy behind Mr. Weasley.

"Don't you dare say that in front of your mother, Ron!" Mr. Weasley reprimanded.

"She was with one of _your_ agents," Ron said angrily to Gibbs. "Why didn't your agent to do everything to keep Ginny safe _before_ they disappeared?"

"Ron!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed. He quickly walked over to his son and turned him around. "Go sit with your mother!"

Ron went around the corner, but not before shooting one last angry glance at Gibbs.

"I'm sorry," Mr. Weasley said, coming back over to Gibbs.

"Anything else?" Gibbs asked.

"Not right now," Mr. Weasely responded. His feet dragged slightly as he returned to his family.

Just as Gibbs walked back into the bull pen, Tony got one of Ziva's desk drawers to pop open. "Ah ha!" he exclaimed, throwing the screw driver down on the floor. He quickly began rifling through the drawer's contents.

Gibbs sat down at his desk and stared blankly at his screen. How had Ziva been bested? Gibbs had seen her react in a split second and quickly take down men twice her size. Why had she not been able to bring down one teenager? Another question began to eat at him more: how _did _he know that Ziva and Ginny were still alive?

Gibbs blinked several times and leaned up in his chair. No, Ziva was still alive. If the killer had taken her life, he would really have something to brag about. He would leave her somewhere where she would easily be found, and Ginny would be with her. They had to be alive. No bodies had been found yet.

"Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs!" said a voice quickly. Abby ran out of her lab to Gibbs' desk, snapping him out of his gloomy musings. "You didn't tell me that Ziva was missing!"

"Abby - "

"Where is she? How'd she disappear? Ziva's a freakin' ninja! I mean... she can take out a guy on steroids twice her size with one hit! To get Ziva you'd have to - to... I don't know! Gibbs!" Abby fretted, pacing in tight circles.

"Abby, McGee's going - " Gibbs was cut off as Abby turned her hawk-like glare onto Tony.

"Where were you, DiNozzo?" she snapped. "You were supposed to go with her!"

"No, Abby," Tony argued. He stood up and slammed the drawer he had been looking through shut. "She followed me! She headed back on her own, I didn't tell her to do anything!"

"She's your partner!" Abby yelled. "You shouldn't have let her go back on her own! She had two kids she was responsible for! If you had gone with her instead of watching your stupid game, she would be _fine_!"

A split second later, Abby threw her hands over her mouth. "Oh my God, that was really mean! Tony, I'm sorry!" She threw her arms around Tony. "I didn't think! Of course you wouldn't have left Ziva alone if you thought there was any danger!"

Tony hugged Abby back, but he was breathing heavily and his lips were taunt. He looked over at Gibbs briefly.

Abby let go of Tony, took a deep breath and turned to Gibbs, her hands held out expectantly.

"McGee will bring you what we have in a few minutes," Gibbs said.

Abby nodded and went back to her lab.

Tony sat down heavily and threw open a drawer with a loud _bang_.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs sighed, coming over to the desk.

"Boss, don't," Tony requested. "Abby was right. I shouldn't have let Ziva go on her own."

"Yeah, you shouldn't have," Gibbs admitted. "But sitting here feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to do her or you any good."

"I'm not feeling sorry for myself, Gibbs," Tony said through gritted teeth.

"Then stop throwing a hissy fit and do something useful!" Gibbs snapped, slipping into his angry demeanor.

Tony stood up and grabbed his coat. "I'm going to go help look," he said, stomping out.

Gibbs nodded, going back to his usual self.

The door to the Room of Requirement opened and a red-nosed McGee walked into the bull pen. "Hey, Boss," he said with a stuffed nose. He started downloading the pictures, dropped off his backpack in Abby's lab and came back. He pulled up the picture of the tally board.

Jenny came into the work area and looked at the picture. "Our latest message?"

"Yup," Gibbs answered.

"We're missing one, even when we count Ziva and Ginny," Jenny pointed out.

"Yup," Gibbs said slowly.

"McGee, find all the Heads of House. Get them to take roll," Jenny commanded.

"Already being done," McGee said proudly.

"Then go tell Dumbledore we've got another problem. Make sure all the staff is accounted for, as well."

"You got it, Director," McGee said with a nod. He left the room hurriedly.

"Jethro," Jenny said quietly, allowing her panic to show more with McGee gone. "It could be anything!"

"I know that, Jen!" Gibbs said agitatedly.

"I mean, for all we know he's planted a bomb in the Great Hall!"

"I know, Jen!" Gibbs snapped.

Jenny sat on the edge of Gibbs' desk. "How's Emily?"

"Cold, but Ducky says she'll be fine."

Jenny nodded. She put a pill in her mouth and took a drink from her water bottle.

"What are you popping pills for?" Gibbs asked aggressively.

Jenny widened her eyes at Gibbs. "Leg pain! Not all of us pretend pain doesn't exist."

"You haven't done anything that could possibly hurt your leg since we've gotten here," Gibbs growled.

Jenny opened her mouth to talk, but thought better of it. She closed her mouth, shut her eyes, and sighed. It was one of those times where Gibbs just needed to be angry.

Gibbs sat down at his desk. A moment later, he slammed his hand down and stormed over to Ducky's.

The door to the Room of Requirement opened once more. Jenny saw Harry Potter and Hermione Granger run to join the Weasleys. She sighed again, sincerely hoping they would find Ginny and Ziva soon, if only to bring closure to the situation.

* * *

The woman awoke to something vibrating beside her. Thinking it to be her cell phone, the woman batted her hand at it a few times. Since when had her phone grown and become squishy? The woman forced herself to open her eyes and quickly regretted it as her head began to throb. She put her hand where the pain was sharpest. Bringing her hand back, she discovered it covered in red liquid. Memory starting to become clearer, the woman slowly pushed herself onto her elbows.

What the woman had thought to be her phone was, in fact, a small, shivering girl whose skirt was wet and sticky. The woman put her clean hand on the girl's leg. Just as the thought, her hand became red.

The woman looked at her surroundings. Tall and dense trees made it rather dark and there was next to no vegetation on the ground.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Damn!" said the small girl, leaning up and gripping her leg.

The woman reached down into her boot. With a grateful sigh, she pulled out her knife. From her waist band she pulled out a small lighter. She lit the lighter and held her knife over the small flame until the blade changed color slightly.

"I will not lie," said the woman, kneeling next to the girl. "This will hurt, but it is better than leaving it alone. It will get infected." Rather safe than sorry, the woman ripped off part of her sleeve. "Bite down on this."

The girl nervously took the ripped cloth, put it in her mouth, and bit down. She realized the necessity of it as she felt something sharp go into her leg and let out a scream. The cloth muffled her voice and gave her something to dig her teeth into other than her tongue.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - The Twelfth Mark

I would very much appreciate a review from you! Yes, you right there. ...Please?


	47. The Twelfth Mark

**The Twelfth Mark  
**

"Try to sit as still as possible. We must leave no trace," said a woman, helping a small girl off her back.

"We _want_ to leave traces so they can find us!" the girl argued.

"They may not be the only ones looking for us!" the woman snapped. "We are an unfinished job!"

"Then we just make sure they find us before he does."

"He will be expecting that. We will keep moving."

"You've got a bloody lump on your head and I've got a gaping hole in my leg! You can only carry me so long! We've got no water and no food! Do you really think we'll make it terribly far?"

"Would you stop arguing with me?" the woman asked irritably. "We cannot go back; he is waiting for us. I will not risk it. In his mind this is some sort of cat and rat game."

"Cat and mouse," the girl corrected waspishly.

The woman sneered briefly. She paced lightly, her boots somehow not leaving prints on the ground. She pulled out her phone. It had no service, but it told her the time.

"How long have we been out here?" the girl asked.

"At least twelve hours," the woman answered.

"What's your big plan, then? I can't do anything."

"I have noticed," the woman said dully. She pulled her knife out of her boot and flicked it open. "Do not go anywhere. I will return."

"If you see any unicorns, leave them alone!" the girl called after the woman. "...Wait! What are you doing? You can't just wander off! You have no clue what you're doing! This isn't your average forest!"

* * *

"It's been fourteen hours since they went missing! What have we found?" Gibbs asked his dwindling team.

Tony and McGee looked at each other briefly. "We don't have anything, Boss," Tony answered after a moment.

"Why is that, DiNozzo?" Gibbs queried, getting in his subordinates' faces.

"Because the kidnapper didn't leave us with anything, Boss," Tony said through his teeth.

"Ziva didn't leave us with anything, either," McGee quickly interjected, trying to lean back from his furious boss' face. "She didn't have time or thought it'd be too risky."

"Hagrid didn't find anything in the forest?" Gibbs asked.

"Not yet, but he's still looking."

Abby walked out of her lab with a depressing air about her. "I didn't find anything on Ginny's wand," she said. "I'm going to bring it down to Professor Snape to look at it."

"Snape? Why Snape? Abby, he'll kill you," McGee said. He looked upward for a moment. "This is a bad time to use that phrase lightly..."

"Do you think, McGee?" Gibbs queried.

"Snape, McGee, knows more about the magical world, therefore knowing more about wands. Dumbledore told me to bug him, not other teachers," Abby explained.

"Abby!" Gibbs barked. "Anything else?"

Abby looked sheepishly at Gibbs. "You're not going to like it, Gibbs. I didn't get any prints off Ziva's gun, but the blood on it is hers. He hit her over the head."

"The tally board?" Gibbs asked.

"I'm still processing. I had McGee swab every mark. So far every one has had a different victim's blood, but that's likely to change when I get to the chases," Abby said flatly.

"DiNozzo, take Abby down to Snape's," Gibbs ordered.

Tony strapped his gun to his side and left with Abby as Colonel Mann entered.

"Any news from the grounds, Colonel?" Gibbs asked.

Colonel Mann put her hat on Gibbs' desk and shrugged off her coat. "They're definitely in the forest somewhere. Remus and I found substantial amounts of blood in a clearing. Hagrid's going deeper into the forest to look."

"Blood?"

"Two spots," Colonel Mann said, holding up fingers for effect. She began pulling off her scarf. "Nothing else."

"Nothing?" Gibbs queried.

Colonel Mann shook her head. "I don't think Officer David wants to be found."

"She doesn't want to be found by the wrong people," Gibbs said, throwing on his coat. "Show me the clearing."

Colonel Mann looked skyward as she pulled her coat back on, following Gibbs out.

Jenny came down the stairs into the bull pen. She sat at Gibbs' desk and took off her shoes with a wince. "Anything new, McGee?"

"Abby didn't find anything on Ginny's wand; she took it down to Professor Snape. The blood on Ziva's gun is Ziva's. Abby said she was hit over the head - "

"Can she tell how hard Ziva was hit?" Jenny asked, pausing movement and looking intently at McGee.

"If she can, she's not telling," McGee responded. "The gun was fired three times. Colonel Mann said she found to spots of blood on the forest floor. She and Gibbs are headed over there now."

Jenny leaned back in Gibbs' chair. "Three shots. That's enough to kill two people," she said thoughtfully. "How do these things keep happening?"

"I don't know, Director," McGee sighed. He looked at the Weasleys across the room. None of them had left the Room of Requirement since discovering that Ginny had gone missing.

A faint voice began calling uncomprehendable things. McGee knit his eyebrows together and looked up at the MTAC doors.

Jenny sighed and slipped her shoes back on. "That's Director David, McGee, in case you don't recognize Hebrew when you hear it."

"He sounds..."

"Angry? Just a bit," Jenny said, rolling her neck. She headed upstairs. The screaming of Eli David got louder as the door to MTAC opened and soon after quieted completely.

* * *

"It has been 24 hours!" Gibbs shouted. "Why do we have nothing to show for it?!"

"In all fairness, Boss," Tony said bravely, "we did find out that the kidnapper used Ginny's wand to levitate them into the fo - "

"Does that help me put a name with the kidnapper, DiNozzo?" Gibbs growled.

"No, Boss."

"Boss, Ziva's had loads of survival training. She can probably manage - "

"Have you been in the forest, McGee?" Gibbs asked. "I have had more survival training than all three of you put together and I'd be lost in there. It's not the kind of forest we are used to!" Gibbs took a deep breath and spoke in a bit of a calmer tone, "Go down to the library. See if you can get a list of books Ziva checked out and looked at."

"You got it, Boss!" Tony said. He and McGee dashed out of the room.

Jenny walked down into the bull pen and sat heavily at McGee's desk. She lowered her head onto her arms and sighed.

"You look like hell," Gibbs commented.

Jenny looked up to glare at Gibbs. "Thanks for the compliment, Jethro. That's just what I need after trying to calm down the Director of Mossad, the President, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Magic. Hell, if this keeps up I'll be made to have an audience with the queen!"

Gibbs looked at Jenny more closely. She really did look awful. Dark circles had developed under her eyes, she could hardly keep her head up, and her skin even looked a little green. Jenny, as opposed to dealing with Gibbs longer, dropped her head back onto her forearms.

Abby, Ducky, and Jimmy walked into the bull pen. Gibbs took one look at their faces and knew his mood was going to worsen. "What?" he asked.

"I finished running all the DNA," Abby said, sounding very subdued. "I didn't want be sure with the last one, so I had Ducky and Jimmy double check - "

"Abby!" Gibbs snapped, now getting nervous. "What is it?"

"We've found the missing victim," Ducky answered.

When neither the ME, his assistant, nor the forensic scientist answered, the hold Gibbs had on his nerves broke. He stood up, color rising to his face. "Who is it?"

"The Director," Abby said.

Gibbs, Abby, Ducky, and Jimmy all turned to Jenny who pulled her head off her arms to look at them all. "If I'm the victim, then I think we're going to need some medical help," she said, choking on the end of her sentence. Jenny turned and unceremoniously threw up on the floor.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Devastating Diagnosis

Our "friendly" hell-maker strikes again! Things are certainly getting very intense very quickly...

Please, be fantastically awesome and leave a review! :)


	48. Devastating Diagnosis

**Devastating Diagnosis  
**

Special Agent Gibbs paced back and forth across the hospital wing, not entirely sure of what to do. He was down eight students, an agent, a director, and was no closer to finding his culprit.

"Jethro, one must wonder why he attacked the Director now," Ducky said to his frustrated colleague. "She doesn't fit in the pattern any way you put it."

"He isn't going in a pattern anymore, Duck!" Gibbs growled. "He's pissed because we found out about Diggory!"

"Yes, but he's organized! He's planned! He would have had a backup plan in the event that we did find out the truth about Cedric!" Ducky argued.

"Maybe this is his backup plan," Abby suggested.

"He's beginning to eliminate his biggest threat," Jimmy added. "Us."

"I sincerely hope the both of you are wrong," Ducky said. "If you are correct, he feels he is out of all other options. He'll become far more aggressive and destructive."

"How can he be?" Gibbs said to himself.

Madame Pomfery came out of her office and walked over to the group. "I believe this may be a first," she said.

"First what?" Gibbs asked irritably.

"The first time a Muggle has contracted Dragon Pox," Madame Pomfrey answered, giving Gibbs a look of displeasure and pity.

"Dragon Pox?" Ducky queried.

"It's kind of like the wizard version of chicken pox," Jimmy provided. "The first known victim was in the 1300s - "

"What does it mean?" Gibbs asked Madame Pomfrey, cutting across Jimmy.

"First off, it is contagious, so I recommend showering as soon as you can," Madame Pomfrey began.

"For the Director!" Gibbs snarled.

"I'm not sure. I don't even know how she could have gotten it," Madame Pomfrey admitted. She held up a finger, demanding Gibbs not speak what was on the tip of his tongue. "I'm sending her to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. In the mean time, shower and clean your office, or you'll all get it. Now out! I have a patient to look after!" Madame Pomfrey began shooing out NCIS.

Just before being pushed out, Ducky turned toward Madame Pomfery. "Poppy, doctor to doctor, how bad do you think this is?"

"I haven't ever run into something like this before, but it looks like it was caught fairly early on. I don't mean to make it sound better than it is, however," Madame Pomfrey answered. "Make sure that office gets cleaned right! All of it! Send the Weasleys here for the mean time. And I want to see the rest of your colleagues soon." She closed the hospital wing doors. Ducky hurried to catch up with said colleagues.

* * *

"Fornell! Colonel!" Gibbs bellowed upon entering the Room of Requirement. At Ducky's urging he put a mask over his face and gloves on his hands.

Fornell came down from Emily's room and the Colonel from the bull pen. "What the hell's going on, Jethro?" Fornell asked.

"Director Sheppard has gotten Dragon Pox," Gibbs explained, throwing gloves at Colonel Mann and the FBI agent.

"Dragon Pox?" Colonel Mann queried, throwing on her mask. "How'd that happen?"

"On purpose," Jimmy said. "I've been reading a lot. Dragon Pox isn't anywhere near as common now as it used to be, and if anyone in the school had it they would be sent away to St. Mungo's right away. It had to have been brought in from outside. It's a serious deal. Before a cure was developed it was pretty much a death sentence."

"Colonel Mann and I will take the Weasleys down to the hospital wing. The rest of you start cleaning things," Gibbs ordered.

"Tobias, you should send Emily to the wing as well," Ducky suggested. "We all know she's far from healthy at the moment."

Fornell nodded. He grabbed another mask and pair of gloves for Emily and went back upstairs to get her.

Gibbs walked over to the Weasleys.

"What's going on?" Mr. Weasley asked, taking in Gibbs' mask and gloves.

"Director Sheppard came down with Dragon Pox," Gibbs said. "Colonel Mann and I will escort you down to the hospital wing. We need to clean everything out here."

"That's impossible!" Percy Weasley said with a chuckle. "There hasn't been a case of Dragon Pox at Hogwarts since 1894!"

"Go tell that to Madame Pomfrey," Gibbs said dryly.

"Arthur and I will help clean," Mrs. Weasley volunteered, pulling her wand out of her apron pocket.

"We'll be cleaning our way, Mrs. Weasely," Colonel Mann said, joining the group. "We need to find the source of the Dragon Pox."

Mrs. Weasley pocketed her wand. "Then I'll stay."

"We'll stay, too," Hermione volunteered herself, Harry, and Ron.

"No, you won't," Gibbs argued with Hermione.

"This is our job, Weasleys. Let us do it," Colonel Mann requested. She gestured toward the door. "Shall we?"

Fornell came down with Emily and the young girl joined the large group leaving the room.

Out in the hall, Gibbs pulled off his mask. Colonel Mann took off hers, as well. "How'd we figure out that your director got Dragon Pox?" she quietly asked Gibbs.

"The killer somehow got her blood and gave her a mark on the tally board," Gibbs said quietly. "Pomfrey diagnosed her."

"Whose blood?" Emily asked before Gibbs could continue.

"Don't worry about it, Emily," Colonel Mann said. "You can take the mask off, if you'd like."

"I like it!" Emily said. "And these gloves make me feel like a doctor!" She held up her hands and flexed her fingers.

Hermione jumped up to be with Gibbs and Colonel Mann. "Have you found Ginny yet?"

"No," Colonel Mann answered. "If we had, you'd know."

"I just thought I'd check. After all, everyone thinks Lavender's gone home, but I saw her in your science lab yesterday." Hermione spoke as if she did not care, but there was a very angry undertone.

"The fewer the people that know she's here, the better," Gibbs said shortly.

"Hermione!" Harry Potter said from a window. "Ron! Look at that!"

Hermione and Ron hurried to look where Harry was pointing. "Harry!" Hermione gasped. "That could be - "

"Shush!" Harry hissed. He glanced at Gibbs, realized he was being watched, and moved away from the window to rejoin the group. Gibbs saw him begin to whisper to his friends.

"Remus told me those three are the school's student investigators," Colonel Mann told Gibbs, following his gaze.

"Then we'd better keep a close eye on them," Gibbs said lowly.

* * *

"I've got cleaners!" Abby said with bounce. "Where should we start?"

"We're looking for a contagious disease that a Muggle has never been known to have, Abby, not a puppy," Jimmy said agitatedly, his rate of blinking increasing.

Abby closed her eyes tightly and looked slightly aggravated. "Trying not to think about it, Jimmy.'

"Sorry, Abby," Jimmy said. He pulled off his mask and took a deep breath.

Abby punched Jimmy hard in the shoulder. "What the hell are you doing? Do you want to get Dragon Pox?"

"Sorry!" Jimmy threw his mask back over his face.

"Start in MTAC," Fornell suggested. "We're going to need it, considering we're royally screwed."

"That's no attitude to have, Toby!" Abby scolded.

"Tell me how your attitude changes after you've been scrubbing and sanitizing for an hour," Fornell said. "And let me know when MTAC is done. A crap load of calls needs to be made." That being said, Fornell pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

"Where are Tony and McGee?" Jimmy asked as he, his mentor, and other coworker ascended the stairs.

* * *

"Tony, there's a ladder right over there! I am not lifting you up on my shoulders!" said McGee.

"There's someone on that ladder, McGoo! We've been here four hours already and I'm tired of waiting for people to get off ladders!" Tony said crazily.

"Look, they're climbing down!" McGee pointed out.

Tony casually walked over. The moment the student got off the ladder, he grabbed it and slid it over to where he and McGee were looking. He climbed up. "You'd better not drop another one, McButterfingers! Madame Pince might actually kill you this time."

"You made a bad throw, Tony!" McGee snapped.

"I dropped it the same way as all the others, Timmy," Tony said with fake patience.

"Tony, weren't you the one tired of waiting?"

"You started it!" Tony childishly accused. He pulled out a book and dropped it down to McGee. As McGee flipped through one book, Tony pulled out another and quickly looked through it. "All these pages might as well have been ironed!"

"Then she didn't look at that one," McGee said absentmindedly.

"Why does she have to dog-ear pages? Why can't she be normal and use a bookmark where she left off?" Tony questioned as he turned the pages of another book.

"We're lucky she dog-eared pages, Tony," McGee said. "If she didn't we'd have no other way of finding the books she looked through."

"Book 700," Tony said as he pulled another book off the shelf. "Four hours of my life." He gave a fake laugh and shoved the book back on the shelf. "Why didn't she make a list?"

McGee slowly lowered the book he had. "Maybe she did," he said slowly. "Tony, did you finish going through her desk?"

Tony's face snapped into a tense position.

"Do you want any help?" asked an older student. He spoke on behalf of himself and three friends.

McGee and Tony turned to look at the boys. All four of them had yellow and black badges sewn onto their robes.

"Well, boys," Tony said with a forced smile, "we appreciate the offer, but no."

"What are you looking for?" asked another one of the Hufflepuff boys as he looked at the stack of books developing by McGee.

"We're looking for some interesting reading," Tony said sarcastically. "Have any recommendations?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts books are always good," said one of the boys.

"He's being sarcastic, Leo," another boy said.

"Maybe I'm just humoring him, Mark!" the boy called Leo said.

"Mark, Leo, shut up, would you?" said the boy who had first spoke.

"Ok, ok!" Tony said loudly."Thanks for your offer boys, but we've got it. Just... go to class."

"It's Saturday, Agent," said the boy that hadn't spoken yet.

"Then go anywhere but here," Tony said angrily.

"Alright, alright, look," said the first boy. "I'm Phil Carol. This is Leo Smith, Mark Polski, and Rob Neco. We're Cedric's friends."

"So you're wondering how he's doing?" McGee asked.

"Yeah," said Phil.

"Well it's a little late for that," Tony said, stepping closer to the boys. "Maybe you should have been concerned for him before he didn't come back to class."

"So something is wrong with him," Phil said.

"Why don't you tell me?"

"You two aren't very good at good cop, bad cop," Rob said.

"That's because we're going postal," Tony said through gritted teeth.

McGee stepped up. "Look, boys. We're glad you want to help, but please leave us to our jobs."

"Keep it up, you've been doing great!" Rob said, giving Tony a thumbs up and a cheesy smile. Phil pulled Rob away and the group left.

"Hey, Tony, come on," McGee said to his colleague, who was breathing heavily. "We've got the rest of this shelf and then we're done."

"Wrong, McGee," Tony said. He pointed at the stack of books they had made. "We've got to bring all those back to headquarters and find out what Ziva knows."

* * *

"Cleaning, cleaning, in the Director's office! We're spraying much and scrubbing hard, in the Director's office!" Abby sang.

"No singing, Abby," Gibbs ordered.

"Come on, Gibbs! It's a fun song! Swimming, swimming, in a swimming pool! When days are - "

"Abby!"

Abby huffed and returned her full attention to the Director's desk.

"To think we have to go through the entire bull pen, the lab, and the morgue!" Colonel Mann said, leaning back on her heels and running the back of her gloved hand over her forehead. "Where are DiNozzo and McGee?"

"In the library," Gibbs answered. "They're trying to find what books Ziva looked at so we can see what her chances are in the forest."

"Has anyone called them to let them know what's going on?" Ducky asked.

Before Ducky's curiosity was satisfied, Abby let out a loud squeal. Gibbs was up in a moment and by her side. "Abby, what?"

"Someone messed with this chair!" Abby pulled on the sides of the chair, stretching the seat and revealing a long, clean cut in it. "No! Don't touch it!" Abby reprimanded as Gibbs went to put his hand in the gash. "I need more light. Jimmy, come here and hold this!"

Jimmy hurried over and did as Abby told him.

Gibbs offered Abby his flashlight and she took it, clicked it on, and began running it over the chair at various angles. "Ah ha!" she exclaimed. "Found you!"

Gibbs lowered himself until his eyes were at the same level as Abby's. He followed her gaze and caught something shiny reflecting the flashlight. "Needles," he said dully. "Jenny said her leg hurt."

"And this is why," Abby said. "He rigged these needles into her chair! I need a knife and some evidence bags."

As Abby began cutting into Jenny's chair with Ducky and Jimmy's help, Gibbs stood back.

"Are you wondering what I am?" asked Colonel Mann. At no response from Gibbs, she continued, "When and how did the killer get into the room of requirement and manage to get up here?"

"I was wondering how he slipped past the minimum three people here," Gibbs said.

"Cedric and Lavender stay in their rooms," the Colonel sighed. "And the person eating with Lavender was - "

"In her room with her," Gibbs finished.

"Gibbs, look at this!" Abby beckoned. Gibbs went back over to the chair and kneeled down by the exposed stuffing and a small network of thread tied to various parts of the chair. "See this? He rigged three needles! One to inject the Dragon Pox, and two to draw blood!"

"How do you know there were two to draw blood, Abbs?" Gibbs inquired, looking at the needles still standing up in the chair murderously.

"There had to have been," Abby said. "How else would he have gotten her blood to make the mark on his score board? Look, he set that empty one to inject, but not draw, and the other two to draw, not inject. That's pretty clever, actually..."

"Go. Start processing," Gibbs ordered.

"Do you have a very recent blood sample of the Director's? I need to find out just how long she's been exposed to Dra - " Abby was cut off.

"Already in your lab, Abby. Go!"

"Happy cleaning!" Abby said. "Jimmy, help me bring the chair down." Abby and Jimmy left, rolling the chair out with them.

Gibbs paced across the room several times.

"Anyone home?" shouted a voice from downstairs. Gibbs grabbed the opportunity and left the Director's office.

"DiNozzo! McGee! Put on gloves and a mask!"

"What's going on, Boss?" McGee asked as he did as told.

"Director Sheppard was the missing victim," Gibbs answered.

"How does that explain the mask?" Tony asked, snapping his onto his face.

"She got a contagious disease that Muggles have never been known to have, DiNozzo," Gibbs explained. "Dragon Pox."

"Sounds nasty," Tony commented.

"What'd you find?"

"All of those," Tony said, pointing to a large stack of books.

"Did you finish looking through Ziva's desk, DiNozzo?"

"Doing that now, Boss!" Tony said. He retreated to the bull pen. "Ziva gone. Jenny gone. All we need now is a scientist down!" he muttered to himself as he broke another drawer open.

"Boss, what do you want me to do?" McGee asked.

"Take those books to Ducky's. Then help clean," Gibbs said as he climbed the stairs to return to the Director's office.

As McGee moved books, his mind began to wonder and his sense of panic and urgency to finish the case increased tenfold.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - A Chance with Centaurs

Oh, Geez. I have no smart/witty/sarcastic comment to make. I'm kind of out of it. My apologies.

Leave a review, please!


	49. A Chance with Centaurs

**A Chance with Centaurs  
**

A woman carefully placed her feet with every step, moving anywhere but where she had been before.

"We need to stop going deeper in," said a girl on the woman's back.

"Further in is the best chance we have," the woman said shortly.

"No, it isn't! Do you know what we're going to meet if we keep going this way?"

"Do you know what we will meet if we go back?"

"Yeah, I do! And if we keep going - "

"Shush!" the woman snapped. She stopped moving and looked around with baited breath. She quickly turned in the direction of the sound of a twig snapping. She pulled her knife out of her pocket and flicked it open. "Who is there?" she said loudly. "Show yourself!"

"Shush!" the girl whispered into the woman's ear. "My brothers told me about some of these creatures. We want to leave them alone! Go back!"

The woman did, in fact, begin slowly retracing her steps, keeping a sharp eye the entire time.

"Halt, human!" demanded a voice in the leaves.

The woman raised her knife to her ear, ready to throw. "Who are you?" she demanded, her eyes bulging as she searched for the source of the voice. "I warn you, I am armed!"

"As am I," said the voice.

The woman watched as a man's torso came out of the foliage followed by a horse's body: a centaur. The centaur had a bow and a quiver of arrows slung over his back, and he was not alone. Two other centaurs came out behind him. "What do you want?" she asked, refocusing her attention on the centaur who had spoken to her.

"They're touchy," the girl breathed. "Don't push -"

"I know," the woman quietly responded.

"What business have you in our part of the forest, human?" the centaur asked.

"Survival," the woman said shortly.

"Survival?" snorted another centaur. He raised his bow at the woman. "See, Ronan? All humans lie."

"I never said they did not lie, Bane," said the first centaur, Ronan. He put a hand on Bane's arm and forced him to lower the bow. "The stars foretold a stranger."

"Strangers have no business in our woods," Bane said heatedly. "Tell us honestly, woman. What business have you here?"

"Survival," the woman repeated.

"Ah yes," said a third, younger centaur. "Do you see the foal?"

As Bane struck up another argument, the gears in the woman's head began to turn. If she could manage to twist things just right, she might be able to get the centaurs to help. She lowered the girl off her back and sat her against a tree. "Speak only if spoken to, and think first," the woman told the girl. She turned back toward the centaurs and threw her knife down into the ground. "I wish to bring no harm," she informed. She was sure to keep her hands in plain sight of the centaurs and away from her pockets.

Ronan watched the display and pondered a few moments. He slung his bow off his back and laid it on the ground. "How did you come to our part of the forest, human?"

"We were ambushed at the castle," the woman said in a calm, even voice. "Whoever ambushed us brought us into the forest. We have been on the move since."

"And why did you not return to the castle?" Bane asked, taking a step in front of Ronan. He had not set down his weapons.

"To return to the castle is certainly a death sentence," the woman answered. "Whoever ambushed us will be waiting."

"Leave them," Bane said, stepping back. "They smell of danger."

"The foal is injured," said the young centaur. "It would be a crime to leave it for dead."

"We do not help humans, Firenze!" Bane yelled, stomping on the ground. "These ones, especially, are a danger to us."

"Indeed they are," said a voice behind the woman. She resisted the urge to turn and look. A fourth centaur circled around her and stood with his fellows. "This one has fooled you. She is far from unarmed."

All four centaurs looked at the woman, anger evident on their faces.

"I apologize," the woman said. From her pockets, waist band, and boots, she pulled out two smaller knives, a lighter, her phone, spare change, a couple of batteries, and a miniature flashlight.

"No wand?" asked the newest centaur.

"I am not a witch," the woman said.

Four bows were suddenly fixed upon the woman. "What are you?" Bane snarled.

"I am a Muggle," the woman answered.

Bane walked around the woman and grabbed the girl from the tree, holding her up off the ground. "Tell me truly what you are!" he demanded threateningly.

The woman kept a smooth face. "I am a Muggle. I was invited to the castle to assist with some problems they have been having."

"Yes, we have heard of the violence," said Ronan.

"I do not care about myself," the woman said. "My only goal is to keep the girl alive."

"Look how she has bled," Firenze pointed to the girl's robes, soaked in blood. "If we leave, the foal will die."

"Then nature will take its course," Bane argued, letting go of the girl. She whimpered as she hit the ground and immediately pressed her hands onto her leg.

"It is a crime to kill a foal," Ronan said. "By leaving we would be sentencing her to certain death."

Chest heaving, Bane turned to the newest centaur. "Magorian, what do you have to say on this matter?"

"The stars foretold of an event such as this, and its possible consequences. It is a crime to kill the innocent," Magorian said, looking up into the small gaps in the tree tops.

"Take up the foal, woman," Ronan said.

The woman did as asked and helped the girl onto her back once more. "My things," she said once the girl was situated. "I will need them."

Firenze dug a fairly small and shallow hole in the soft ground with his hoof. He nudged in the woman's items and the covered them with dirt and the dirt with a fallen branch.

"You will be escorted back here," Magorian said. "Now, come."

The woman struggled to keep up with the creatures. They easily leapt over logs and branches in the way meant nothing. The woman, with her two legs and a girl on her back, tripped over several logs and did not bother trying to duck below the branches, resulting in several scratches and tears in her clothing.

After what seemed like hours and hours, the trees began to thin ever so slightly, finally coming to a clearing. The woman barely kept back a gasp at the sight before her.

No less than one hundred centaurs wandered about, men, women, and children. The woman was surprised by the fair amount of equality she saw demonstrated. Men and women alike were cooking, shooting with their bows and arrows, and guiding children. The woman would have thought the centaurs to be fairly "traditional" in the way activities were split up.

"What is this?" one of the women asked with hostility. She had long red hair and bright green eyes. "Humans?"

"The foal is injured, Terra," said Magorian. "We will save her and send them off." He walked over to the centaurs shooting and joined them.

The woman watched nervously as Bane, Ronan, and Firenze also wandered off, feeling extremely bewildered and out of place. What was she supposed to do? What was appropriate to do?

"Come, stranger," said the female centaur, Terra. "Bring the foal here."

The woman did as she was told, following Terra across the clearing to an area where there were more trees.

"I don't like this," the girl whispered into her fellow's ear.

"They will not hurt you," the woman replied. "You are young."

The girl noticed the woman hardly blinked and her eyes never stayed still. While the woman looked fairly calm, the girl began to feel as though she was anything but.

Terra led the woman and the girl to what seemed like the medical part of the clearing. A few injured centaurs lay on the ground, several asleep. "Lay her down," Terra ordered.

The woman gently lowered the girl off of her back and put here where Terra had pointed.

"Now go with Artemis," Terra directed.

The woman turned toward another centaur. The centaur's body was a light shade of brown, though her hair was almost black. She turned into the forest and began walking. The woman quickly followed.

"You are very quiet, stranger," said Artemis after a few minutes.

"I have no need to speak," the woman said evenly.

"Tell me, stranger, where are you from?" Artemis asked. "You speak differently."

"I am from Israel," the woman said, a hint of pride sneaking into her voice.

"That explains your jewelry," Artemis said. "What do you call it? I have only seen it twice before."

"It is the Star of David," the woman answered. "It is a symbol of my faith."

Artemis nodded and conversation ceased. The woman listened to the sounds of the forest, eventually hearing the lively bubbling of a creek. Moments later, the water came into sight. Artemis took a skin of some sort out of the bag she had slung over her shoulder and handed it to the woman before taking another for herself. The woman watched Artemis, and then filled her skin with water.

"Tell me, stranger," Artemis began on the way back, "how did the foal come to be injured?"

"She was shot," the woman said, quickly ducking to avoid a spider web.

"It was intentional?" Artemis said. She snorted with anger and stomped a hoof on the ground. "It is a great crime to harm the innocent."

"Yes, it is," the woman said blankly.

"And what happened to you, stranger?" Artemis asked, looking the woman over. "You seem far from well."

"What happened to me is not important," the woman said. "I will be fine."

"Very well," Artemis said as they came back to where they had begun. She and the woman set down the skins full of water by Terra.

The woman stood back and watched Terra and Artemis work. They had set the girl on her back and pulled her robes up to her knees, exposing a bloody mess. Terra took a skin full of water and poured some of it over the girl's leg as Artemis gently rubbed the blood off. Finally, one could see the wound clearly. Terra stopped pouring water and set the skin down. She lowered herself to the ground and the woman's view of the girl was blocked.

Knowing that the girl was being taken care of, the woman let her mind wander. She had been in the wilderness for more than twenty four now. So far, she had been very careful. She had stayed as deep in the forest as she could. It was warmer and there was better coverage. However, there was more dirt and mud, meaning more places to leave prints. The woman knew she had managed not to leave any so far, but her energy was waning.

"Stranger," called Artemis. The woman quickly focused all her attention on the centaur. "Come."

As the woman hurried to catch up to Artemis, she glanced at the girl. Terra was still down at the girl's side, though the girl looked as if she were asleep.

"Terra has said that she will keep the girl here through the night. You will stay as well," Artemis said.

"Thank you for the hospitality," the woman said.

"Come, you will help make food," Artemis said.

The woman nodded and followed Artemis over to several small fires being tended by centaurs. Freestanding and ancient looking clay ovens stood past the fires. The woman was directed to the ovens and she went.

"Hello, stranger," said a child. It smiled at the woman, and the woman smiled back. "I am Aleta," she introduced herself.

"Aleta," the woman repeated. "That is a very nice name. What does it mean?" she asked as she sat down on the ground by the foal.

"Truth," said the foal.

The woman smiled once more. "So what are you making?"

"We will be making bread," said Aleta. She handed the woman a shallow wooden bowl. The woman paid intent attention as the foal spoke to her and found herself quite enjoying the activity.

* * *

"You may sleep here, human," said Firenze, gesturing to a bit of ground.

The woman sat down and gazed up at the sky.

"Do you watch the stars often?" asked Firenze, looking up at the heavens.

"Not as often as I would like," the woman answered. "There are too many lights where I live. I cannot see the stars."

"That is a pity, indeed," Firenze said. "The Phoenix is very evident tonight."

"So it is," the woman said. "Andromeda is very bright, as well."

"Good night, human," said Firenze.

The woman watched as Firenze found his own spot of ground and lowered himself to it. She returned her eyes to the sky. As she watched the stars, her mind began wondering once more to how she would manage to make it out of the forest alive.

* * *

He craved. He craved the sense of power, the adrenaline rush, the sense of superiority. He was low on patience. The meddlesome Muggles had yet to take his far from subtle hints. Enjoyable as they were, he needed them gone.

The gears in his head turned as he lit a match, extinguished it, and repeated the process. Finally, he grinned, sadistic joy over taking him. Yes, he knew what he would do. He knew how to get rid of the Muggles, once and for all. He lit one more match, let it drop to the floor, and stepped on it.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - A Visit Completely Uncalled For

That next chapter's got a long name... maybe I'll change it. -shrug-

"This chapter was really slow and kind of unnecessary, alittleinsane." -deep sigh- I write things for a reason, mmmk? Chill! Things are going to kick up to a kind of ridiculous pace soon. Patience is a virtue. (Gosh, you don't know how many times I've said that to myself in the past 24 hours!)

Be fantastically awesome. Better my day. Leave me a review?


	50. A Visit Completely Uncalled For

**A Visit Completely Uncalled For  
**

"Done!" Tony said with a heavy sigh. "That's every inch of this place!" He threw down his rag.

"Shower," Gibbs said shortly. He watched Tony, McGee, Ducky, Jimmy, Fornell, and Colonel Mann leave before storming into Abby's lab. "Abby!"

"Gibbs!" Abby said. Seeing Gibbs with his mask still on, Abby put one over her face. "You haven't showered yet?"

"What have you got?" Gibbs asked impatiently.

"Well, I've got Dragon Pox growing in a petrie dish over there, running DNA and finger prints over there, and trying to find where these needles came from over here," she said, jumping over to her computer. "I haven't ever seen these before, and I've seen a lot of needles. Whoever rigged them scratched the brand name off, so I have to go through all these pictures and compare them against the actual needles. I think tiny lines are becoming a permanent thing in my vision. I see marks everywhere."

"So you have nothing?" Gibbs asked.

"Not yet," Abby sheepishly admitted. "You came too early, Gibbs!"

Gibbs looked skyward agitatedly before leaving the lab.

* * *

Professor McGonagall walked down into the Entrance Hall, several letters in hand. She opened the doors and very nearly ran into a man just behind them. She took in his appearance and a feeling of unease developed.

The man had stubble on his face, dark eyebrows, a shaved head, and mischievous eyes. "Professor McGonagall," he said, sounding rather slimy. "Nice to meet you." He walked around the professor into the building, headed toward a staircase.

"Excuse me!" McGonagall called, her mind kicking back into action. "Who are you? And who invited you here?"

"I'm a friend of Agent Gibbs," the man said without turning around.

Professor McGonagall managed to get around and in front of the man. "I was asking for a name," she said coldly.

"Bob Smith," the man said with an annoyed sigh. "If you'll excuse me, Professor, I really would like to get to the Room of Requirement."

"I'd rather you go see Professor Dumbledore first, Mr. Smith," McGonagall said, knowing she was being lied to.

"I know Dumbledore," the man said. "He used to teach Transfiguration here. After Headmaster Dippet died in 1956, Dumbledore took his place and you took Dumbledore's. Ask me what you'd like, I can answer it. Now would you please get out of my way or take me to Agent Gibbs?"

Professor McGonagall drew herself to her fullest height, turned and headed toward the Room of Requirement, trying to keep off the paths students most commonly traveled, intent on keeping the stranger away from them. Finally, she and the man approached to door to the Room of Requirement. The professor opened the door and entered first.

Tony looked up at the sound of the door opening. "Oh, hey! Boss! Look at what the wet, smelly dog brought in!" he called, looking at the mystery man.

"You don't look wet to me, DiNozzo," the man said, walking into the bull pen.

"Shouldn't you be blowing up someone's car?" Tony asked. "Maybe letting a frog or two loose? Or maybe you should just... kill the frog. Then it wouldn't get away anymore and you could take over the frog's business."

"Down, DiNozzo," the man drawled.

Tony growled and snapped at the man.

"So you do know this man," Professor McGonagall said slowly.

"Indeed we do. Trent Kort is a friend of ours from the Central Intelligence Agency," Tony said with gritted teeth, looking at the man about whom he was speaking.

"Trent Kort?" McGonagall questioned.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tony said to McGonagall. "Mr. Kort has a bit of a habit of lying, especially if he needs to get somewhere or something. You should see what happens when he wants someone gone," he added in a loud whisper.

As McGonagall stomached the information she was given, Gibbs began speaking. "Agent Kort, what brings you all the way to Hogwarts from your secret location?"

"I'm a U.S. citizen -"

"That's likely," McGee said in an undertone.

Tony gave a loud cough that sounded awfully like, "Good one!"

Kort continued as if nothing had happened. "I'm concerned about some of the nation's most prominent investigators."

"We're doing just fine, Kort," Gibbs said while looking at his computer screen.

"Oh, now the facts say differently," Kort said, settling himself into Ziva's desk. "Four dead students, another three victimized, one missing. That's all understandable."

McGonagall gritted her teeth. The more the man said, the more she disliked him and wanted him gone.

As if he had not yet said enough, Kort opened his mouth again. "We, meaning anyone who knows about the case, became concerned when we heard about Officer David's disappearance, even more so when Director Sheppard went off the map. I've come to ask, Agent Gibbs, what is it you are doing here? Clearly you aren't making progress. If you don't pick up your game, Miss Scuito will be next, and then these two," he said, lazily pointing at Tony and McGee.

As soon as Kort had finished speaking, it was as plain as could be that he had made an enormous mistake. Gibbs rose from his chair and pulled Kort out of Ziva's. "What are you trying to say, Kort?" he asked dangerously.

"I'm not here to cause trouble, Gibbs," Kort drawled.

"Bull crap!" Gibbs snapped. His eyes narrowed and his face began to turn red. "What are you telling me?"

"I'm telling you to get your act together before you're the only one left, Gibbs. You've lost two team members already. You don't even know where Officer David is."

"I am handling this case just find, Kort," Gibbs said lowly.

Tony got up out of his desk and stood behind Kort as the man began to flex his fingers.

"Translation," said McGee, sitting up straight in his chair with a fake polite smile on his face. "You aren't needed here."

"Obviously someone is needed here, and it isn't any of you lot," Kort said as if he were bored with the exchange. "If someone doesn't whip you up into shape you'll all be gone within the week. We all know how disappointing that would be." Kort showed the team his most infamous and disgusting smirk.

Gibbs reached out and grabbed the lapels of Kort's expensive leather jacket. "You want to tell me about the way things are going?" he asked dangerously.

"The man asked you a question, _Trent_," Tony said after a moment. He was bouncing anxiously on the balls of his feet, though clearly enjoying the sight of Kort's throat an inch away from his boss' hands.

Gibbs and Kort stared each other straight in the eye, Gibbs with burning hatred and Kort with a smug calmness.

"Get out," Gibbs hissed, pushing Kort away from him.

"That actually does mean get out," McGee said, still sitting at his desk with a pompous air.

"It's your fault she's out there dying now, you know," Kort whispered in Tony's ear as he began heading out. "You just can't watch your partner's back, can you?"

Tony lost his temper. He grabbed Kort's shoulder, wheeled him around, and punched him in the face with all his might.

Kort put a hand to his face to confirm he was bleeding. With much agility and speed he threw a punch back at Tony.

Gibbs stepped in, grabbing Kort's fist and shoving it off course.

McGee leapt out of his desk and grabbed Tony's arms from behind, keeping his colleague from making another attack.

Gibbs pulled his gun out of its holster, undid the safety, and aimed the gun straight at Kort's heart. "Get the _hell_ away from my team!" Gibbs shouted. "And don't you come near again! You tell your boss that I will make a death look like an accident if he sends someone else."

"You're an old pro at that, aren't you, Gibbs?" Kort asked. He pulled a handkerchief out of his sleeve, put it up to his nose, and went to the door where he stopped. "Get you act together, or_ your _death will be made to look like an accident." He ripped the door open, went through it, and slammed it shut.

"Let me at him!" Tony ordered, pulling to get away from McGee.

"Damn bastard," Colonel Mann said from the top of the stairs, throwing her gun back into its holster. "I wanted him to give me an excuse so bad." She descended the stairs. "How the hell did he get in here?"

All four law enforcement officers turned to look at McGonagall.

"He was already through the main gate when I saw him," the professor said in response.

"Probably one of his all powerful 'completely legal' connections," Tony said with malice. With one final tug, he broke free of McGee's grip and straightened his jacket. He rubbed his knuckles. "Ah, that hurt so good."

"You didn't let him get to you, did you, Jethro?" Colonel Mann asked.

Gibbs put his gun away. However, a larger one materialized next to him. "Can I make it to the roof in time?" he asked, picking up the weapon and looking through a scope on top of it.

The Colonel pushed the long barrel of the gun down to the floor. "Only if you've got one hell of a cover story."

"I hate him," Tony said faintly as he sat back down at his desk, examining a small bloodstain on his shirt. "Hey! Can I frame this?"

"Why don't you bring it to Abby and see how many crimes we can convict him of before the CIA deletes our search?" McGee suggested as he returned to his seat.

"There's an idea," Tony said, a bright smile coming over his face.

"Later, DiNozzo," Gibbs said, throwing on his jacket with such force it nearly ripped. "Patrol. Now. Over the forest."

"Patrolling over the forest, Boss!" Tony said, jumping out of his seat and dashing toward the door.

"McGee," Gibbs said as he came over to the junior agent's desk. He lowered his head and spoke quietly. "I want you out on the grounds tonight, too. Keep an eye out for Potter, Weasley, and Granger."

"You've got it, Boss," McGee said, pulling on his own coat. "I'll just go get Professor Sprout."

"I hope you dressed warm, Professor," said Gibbs as he flipped his coat collar up against his neck. "It'll be cold in the forest."

"In the forest?" McGonagall queried.

"Ziva is doing what we call ghosting. I think I can track her."

"You think?" McGonagall asked, truly shocked. Gibbs always seemed so sure of himself.

"Let's go!" Gibbs ignored the professor's question and headed toward the door.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Bust of the Second Investigators

This chapter is kind of short and random. One of those ideas I just had to throw in. Point! I plan on updating again in two or three days to amke up for it.

Be super fantastically awesome and leave a review?


	51. Bust of the Second Investigators

**Fifty One - Bust of the Second Investigators  
**

"Stranger!"

The woman woke with a start and was rather proud of herself for not acting on a reflex and punching whoever had woken her up.

"Come! We hunt now," said Artemis, rising to her full height.

"Hunt?" the woman asked. "You are asking me to come with you?"

"You will use my old bow," Artemis said. "You must gather food for the foal."

The woman pushed herself off the surprisingly comfortable ground and took the bow offered to her.

"You will need these," Artemis told the woman, holding out a quiver of arrows.

The woman slung the quiver over her back and stood straight and tall, following Artemis over to a small group of centaurs. The woman saw Bane, who was clearly not happy she was accompanying the group.

"Human," said Magorian, stepping up to the woman, "hunt with care. Do not harm the innocent."

"I will be very careful," the woman assured.

"You will go with Artemis and Firenze," he said. "Be well, all." Magorian turned and left with two other centaurs.

"Come," Firenze coached. He, Artemis, and the woman walked into the woods.

"What are we looking for?" the woman asked, fitting an arrow into the bow she had been lent.

"We are looking for those who are in pain, those who are old, those who do harm," Firenze said.

"You must keep a sharp eye," Artemis told the woman. "A strange creature has been wandering these woods."

"Some who have spoken with your so called 'Seers' have called it the Grim," Firenze snorted.

"I have read about the Grim," the woman said. "A death omen is wandering around these woods?" She smiled and bit back a chuckle.

"Now is the time to be quiet," Artemis whispered.

The woman began creeping rather than just walking, making almost no sound as she proceeded forward. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned her head to look at Firenze.

"There," he said quietly, pointing at a pitiful looking creature that was limping along.

The woman raised her bow, took aim, pulled her arm back, and let go. Her arrow hit its target, quickly killing the injured animal. Firenze nodded his approval. The woman managed to keep her smile at bay.

* * *

Gibbs kept his eyes on the ground, looking for anything abnormal.

"Agent Gibbs, how is it that Mr. Kort knows about Hogwarts?" McGonagall asked.

"Agent Trent Kort knows about too many things he shouldn't. If I've been hearing correctly, he's supposed to be in France restocking right now," Gibbs said absentmindedly, stopping to examine a broken twig.

"Restocking?"

"Kort used to be responsible for keeping an eye on an international arms dealer called La Grenouille. He has since taken over the business."

"'La Grenouille' means 'the frog' in French," McGonagall said slowly. "Was Agent DiNozzo making references to him earlier?"

"According to any existing records, no," Gibbs said.

"What about the car blowing up?"

Gibbs stood up straight and sighed. "You're going to keep asking questions, aren't you?"

"Only if I'm curious," McGonagall said carelessly.

"That's the problem with women," Gibbs said to himself. He began talking again before McGonagall could make an argument. "Tony met La Genouille on an undercover assignment. Grenouille 'offered' to drive Tony to breakfast and then home a few months into the assignment. Grenouille's henchman drove Tony's car, which blew up a few minutes into the drive. Evidence points to Kort, though nothing can be proven."

"Stop," McGonagall said suddenly.

"What?" Gibbs asked irritably.

"That branch came from that tree over there. What's it doing all the way over here?" McGonagall questioned.

Gibbs grabbed the branch and threw it off to the side, revealing what looked like a small, shallow grave. With his shoe, Gibbs pushed dirt off the top of the hill. "Well lookie here," he said blandly.

Professor McGonagall looked at what had been unearthed. A couple of small knives, a lighter, batteries, a dead cell phone, and a small flashlight.

"She's coming back for this," Gibbs said.

"Then someone should wait here for her," McGonagall suggested.

"What are these?" Gibbs asked, pointing to prints on the ground. "Are there wild horses running around these woods?"

McGonagall looked at the prints. "Those could be thestrals or centaurs."

"Centaurs?" Gibbs queried.

"Yes," McGonagall said slowly.

"As in the extremely prideful half-horses that hate humans?"

"More like don't trust humans."

"Great," Gibbs said with sarcasm. He pulled out a small pad of paper and a pen, wrote something, and put the paper under one of the knives. He pushed the dirt back where it had been, finally placing the branch on top. "Let's go."

"If she's coming back we should wait," McGonagall objected.

"If she comes back with the centaurs I don't want a scene to arise," Gibbs argued. "Do you think they'll appreciate more humans showing up? No, we'll go back. Ziva is handling herself."

"And what about Miss Weasley?" McGonagall asked harshly.

"She's with Ziva, or Ziva wouldn't bother seeking help."

"And how have you come to the decision that Officer David was seeking help?"

"If she wasn't seeking help, why did she drop everything she needed? She was dropping it as a sign of good will," Gibbs reasoned. He turned and began heading the way they had come.

"Then we find the centaurs!" McGonagall called, hurrying to catch up to her patrol partner.

"No good," Gibbs said. "They're probably hunting now. I'd prefer not to get in their way."

"So this is about you now, is it?"

Gibbs stopped and turned to face McGonagall. "If this were about me, Professor, things would be a hell of a lot different. Right now, the only thing I can do to assure the safety of Ginny Weasley and Officer David is follow Ziva's lead."

"Officer David is not leading, she's running!"

Gibbs' face began to blotch as his anger began to show. "My agents do not _run_ from danger. We face it head on - unless there's someone we're looking out for. Then we're forced to look at other options to make sure everyone gets home safely. Don't you for a damn second think that we don't care! Are we clear?" Gibbs turned and set back on his way without waiting for a response.

Closer to the edge of the forest, Gibbs suddenly smirked. "Are you ready to get even angrier, Professor?"

McGonagall raised an eyebrow at the agent.

"Just wait a minute. Come back this way," Gibbs coached. He headed back into the forest a bit until he hit a clearing.

"Do you plan on telling me what crazy stunt you're trying to pull now?" McGonagall asked harshly.

"I'm not the one trying to pull a stunt this time, Professor," Gibbs said calmly. He sat down against a tree and rested his arm on his knee.

Professor McGonagall faced forward, trying to see the school grounds. Oddly, she heard before she saw.

"Honestly! This cloak is getting to small to fit us all!" a voice whispered, clearly agitated.

"Do you have another idea to get out here, Hermione?" snapped another voice.

"We shouldn't be out here at all! We should have told one of the agents!"

"I don't like them."

"You're such a bother, Ron!"

"We need to go this way," said a third voice.

"We can take this off now. No one will see."

All at once, three students appeared out of no where. McGonagall scowled and drew herself up to full height as she watched her students come closer. Oh, how sorry they were about to become for sneaking out of their rooms!

Harry was the first to notice his professor. He stopped dead in his tracks. Ron ran into Harry, and Hermione ran into Ron. "Professor!" Harry gasped.

"Mr. Potter," McGonagall said rather coldly. "And of course, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger. I suppose you'll come up with and excuse now?"

Hermione stuttered, trying to think of something that sounded reasonable under the fiery gaze of her enraged professor. "We... we... we were... er..."

Gibbs stood up from his comfortable spot and joined the main scene. "Tell me, Potter, what did you see out the window?"

"I - what?" Harry asked.

"Out the window, on the way to the hospital wing. What did you see?"

"What do you care?" Ron snapped.

"Ron!" "Mr. Weasley!" Hermione and Professor McGonagall scolded at the same time.

Gibbs looked at Ron with an almost amused look. "I care very much, Weasley. We can help each other. You tell me what you saw out the window, and depending on what it is, we can find your sister. And there's almost no way you could get into more trouble than you're already in."

"We saw smoke over the forest," Harry said finally.

"Good," Gibbs said. "Where?"

"Over that way." Harry pointed northeast.

"It was in the direction we went for detention first year," Hermione offered further explanation.

"I bet if you'd gone further you would've met Aragog," Ron said sourly.

"That's ridiculous, Ron! He would be much further in! Those things hate the light!" Hermione reasoned.

"Alright, alright!" Gibbs said loudly. "Work that out later." He turned to McGonagall. "I've got what I need. They're all yours now, Professor McGonagall." He leaned against a tree, set to watch the students get chewed out.

"I would rather deal with them inside, Agent Gibbs," McGonagall said coldly, looking at her students.

Gibbe pulled out his phone. Two bars of service. Forests were not a good place for cell phones. Gibbs flipped his open, dialed, and waited. "McGee!"

_"Boss?_"

"Forest edge. I need you to escort some lost students back inside."

_"Be right there."_

Gibbs flipped his phone shut. "I'm assuming they'll be going immediately to their rooms, Professor?" Gibbs asked.

"That depends on how much longer they would like to stay at Hogwarts, Agent Gibbs," McGonagall answered.

"That seems reasonable," Gibbs said with a nod. "I can only imagine how upset Mrs. Weasley will be when she finds that another one of her children isn't in her sight." Gibbs was pleased to see genuine guilt over take the teenagers' faces.

"I should have known," said an unsurprised voice. "McGee! Here!"

Gibbs heard McGee crunch through dead leaves and twigs over to the group, following Professor Sprout's voice. "Boss, Professor," McGee greeted. "Gryffindor Tower, then?"

"Hospital wing," Ron corrected.

McGee's eyes took in Ron's brilliant red hair. He looked past the students at Gibbs, who nodded.

"Come to my office before class tomorrow," McGonagall dangerously ordered her students. They left with their heads hung low. Professor Sprout led the way into the shool and McGee went after the students.

"To the smoke?" McGonagall asked Gibbs.

"To the smoke," Gibbs confirmed.

* * *

He watched them from a tower. He gave his sadistic smile as he noticed another pair on the grounds. That meant even weaker protection inside. They thought they were making progress, pah! They were back treading, and it would cost them more than they knew.

He looked down at what was in his hands. He would miss them, but what needed to be done, needed to be done. He left the window and crept down the hall, listening.

"Well perhaps you should learn to control your emotions better, Colonel," hissed a voice that was all too familiar.

"I apologize for having them, Snape. Maybe if you learned some manners I wouldn't have to worry about losing my temper with you!"

He smiled again as he heard the new voice. How little time she had to make amends with her patrol partner before she would be gone.

As he heard the pair come closer, he calmly stepped into a secret passageway and continued on his way.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Fulmination, Files, and Flight

I have to know, are the looks into the killer's mind, for lack of a better word, enjoyable or are they just annoying?

I'll have you know that I just sat here staring at my screen for the past ten minutes trying to come up with some smart comment. Nothing came to me, so I'll just go ahead and ask you to review, please!


	52. Fulmination, Files, and Flight

**Fifty Two - Fulmination, Files, and Flight  
**

"Are you sure we should leave Colonel Mann by herself?" Abby asked as she and her colleagues walked down to the Great Hall.

"Colonel Mann can handle herself," Gibbs said.

"He got past her once already!" Abby objected.

"And he won't now that she's keeping an eye out for him."

"Who's 'he'?" Emily asked. She tried to jump up next to Gibbs, but her father kept a firm grip on her hand, refusing to let her any further than three feet away from himself.

Seeing Gibbs look ahead with burning anger, Tony quickly tried to strike up a different conversation. "Today is Monday! That means they all have class!" he said joyously.

Ducky chuckled. "One's opinion on school change drastically as they grow older."

McGee opened the Great Hall doors and the group walked in, taking their usual seats at the staff table.

Gibbs looked out at the sea of students. He noticed the Weasley children plus Harry Potter and Hermione Granger all leaned in toward each other, their heads almost touching over the table. Ron looked up at the lead agent, anger evident in his face. Hermione snapped her fingers in front of Ron's face, bringing his attention back to the conversation.

"Are Mr. and Mrs. Weasley still here, Jethro?" Ducky asked.

"As far as I know," Gibbs answered.

"You need to find them, Jethro!" Ducky said desperately. "Tonight they will have been missing for two full days! We all know Ziva is competent in the wilderness, but she's injured! Miss Weasley is, as well. Considering how efficiently Ziva is hiding her tracks, she must be keeping Ginny off of the ground. Her strength will only keep up for so long!"

"I know, Ducky!" Gibbs said harshly. He put his fork down on his plate with force.

"What are your plans?"

"I don't know," Gibbs admitted.

"If you give up now, Jethro," Ducky began, anger beginning to sneak into his voice.

"I am _not_ giving up, Dr. Mallard," Gibbs argued.

"Then don't act like you are! Find Ziva. Find your killer," Ducky coached. "Get us all home."

Something caught Gibbs' eye. He looked down at a flashing red light on Ducky's pant leg. "Duck," he said slowly, pointing.

"Well that's certainly abnormal," Ducky commented, scooting his chair back. The light went past him and began hitting Gibbs' leg instead.

Gibbs suddenly fell out of his chair to the ground and squirmed under the chair emitting the light.

Emily giggled and looked at Gibbs below her seat. "You're funny, Jethro! What are you doing?"

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs urgently called.

Hearing the tone in his boss' voice, Tony responded immediately. "Here, Boss!"

"Evacuate the Great Hall. And give me a blade," Gibbs ordered.

Tony grabbed his pocket knife and handed it to his boss. Drawing several odd and concerned looks, he stood up on the staff table. "Attention!" he yelled as loud as he could. The chatter in the hall was too loud. "Hey!"

A loud whistle sounded behind Tony. He looked back to see McGee lowering his hand from his mouth and turned back to the front. Enough students had quieted for him to begin shouting once more and be heard. "SHUT UP!" he bellowed. Suddenly, the attention of the entire Great Hall was upon him. "They always say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You're going without it today. Get to class!"

Muttering broke out as friends turned to each other to discuss what they had just been told.

"Maybe you didn't hear me!" Tony shouted. His eyes widened and his face began to turn red with the effort of speaking so loudly. "Get out of this hall!"

Some students began moving, but not enough. Tired of his efforts going no where, Tony leapt off the table and hurried over to Dumbledore. "I think we need a bit of your help, Professor. Do you know what a bomb is? If not, I can show you because there's one that could explode at any moment right over there."

Dumbledore stood up quickly. "Classes will be delayed," he told his students who had hushed as soon as he had stood up. "Return to your dormitories immediately!" The sound of hundreds of feet hitting the ground and moving toward the exit filled the hall.

"Thanks, Professor!" Tony said over his should as he ran back to his colleagues. "What's going on, Boss?"

"No pressure pad, Tobias. Get her out of here!" Gibbs said.

Fornell picked up his daughter without hesitation and ran out of the hall with her.

"It's timed, Tony," Gibbs finally answered. "We've got five minutes."

"Five minutes... breakfast is supposed to be over in fifteen," McGee said, looking at his watch.

"Set so that everyone will see a big boom, McGee," said Tony.

"You'll all be the 'big boom' if you don't get out of here now," Gibbs said with a grunt as he pushed himself a bit further under the chair.

"I know last time you said you'd fire me, Boss," Tony said, kneeling down, "but I'm staying."

Gibbs suddenly let out a plethora of swears.

"Boss?" McGee asked hesitantly.

"Get back!" Gibbs shouted. There was no room in his voice for disobeying. "Tony, McGee, make a hole!"

Tony and McGee ran toward the doors, screaming at the kids to move faster. Their desperate calls worked and the doors were soon cleared.

Gibbs turned his head sideways and saw his clear path. He took a deep breath and put his hands on the bomb. With a mighty tug, he pulled it off the bottom of the chair. In a swift move, Gibbs kicked the chair off of him and popped up off the ground. He sprinted out of the room, through the Entrance Hall, and out the main doors.

Tony and McGee followed Gibbs to the doors and watched as he ran half way across the lawn, threw the bomb with all his might, and began running back inside. "Come on, Boss!" McGee said quietly and with much tension.

Gibbs was halfway back to the school when a brilliant orange came from behind him with a loud sound and knocked him off his feet.

* * *

"Well stop squirming, Jethro and we can both be done!" snapped Colonel Mann. "You're a damn fool! Where the hell do you get off thinking you can go running with bombs?" she asked, trying to clear blood off Gibbs' face.

"Professors," Gibbs greeted, looking past the ranting Colonel at the headmaster and his deputy..

"Agent Gibbs," Dumbledore answered. "Is everyone here alright?"

"Just dandy," Gibbs said dryly. He moved his hand from his nose. In his hand was what must have once been a white bandage. It had turned red and more of the color was falling onto it from Gibbs' nose. "Holly," he said, holding it out.

Colonel Mann scoffed, threw the soaked bandage to the side, and offered Gibbs a new one. "Keep the pressure on!" She returned her attention to Gibbs' forehead.

"What happened?" McGonagall asked.

"Jethro thought running with scissors was a bit too boring!" Colonel Mann said with sarcasm. "He decided bombs might be a bit more exciting."

Gibbs looked at Colonel Mann unamusedly. "Someone rigged a bomb under Emily's chair. I couldn't disarm it in time, so I got rid of it."

"And you just had to fall on a rock, didn't you?" Colonel Mann snapped.

"Next time I'll aim for the pillows laying around on the grounds," Gibbs said irritably.

"Thank you very much, Agent Gibbs," Dumbledore said with honesty. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"DiNozzo and McGee are collecting fragments. Ducky and Jimmy are checking Emily." Gibbs stood up, despite Colonel Mann's protests. For a moment, it seemed as if he might fall over. He regained his balance and shook his head slightly as if to clear it. "Actually, there is something you can do," he said.

"Jethro, sit down! I'm not finished with you yet!" Colonel Mann fretted.

Gibbs plucked the wet cloth out of the Colonel's hand, put it to his bleeding forehead, and began heading to the doors. "Professor Dumbledore, if you don't mind."

Dumbledore followed Gibbs out of the morgue.

Colonel Mann looked at the doors with a furious expression for a moment before beginning to clean up. "What are those, Professor?" she asked absentmindedly, shoving several used bandages into the trash can.

"Files," McGonagall answered, holding up the manilla envelopes in her hand. "I believe they come from NCIS archives," she said coldly.

Colonel Mann was distracted by the words. She peeled off the gloves on her hands and snatched the files from the professor. She opened the first one, looked at the two faces smiling up at her, and set the files on a clean slab. "Where did you get these?" she asked, placing the top file to the side and opening the next.

"They were on my desk last night," McGonagall said.

Colonel Mann quickly flipped through all the files. The file of the murder of a Mexican drug dealer, La Grenouille, Jeanne Beniot, all cases that were considered questionable and possibly damaging to the NCIS team. "You read these already?"

"I did," McGonagall answered.

"It's best you forget them," Colonel Mann said. She strode over to Ducky's desk, took a key out of her pocket, opened a drawer, shoved the files in, and shut and locked the drawer.

"I believe I can't," McGonagall said. "Wouldn't you agree that it's a bit disconcerting that the whole of the NCIS team have been suspects in murder or thought to be accessories to murder? One of which was technically never cleared, and another one barely? Officer David was an _assassin_ before she came to America!"

Colonel Mann bit her tongue briefly. "Those files, Professor, were put on your desk by Trent Kort with the intent of getting you to distrust us."

"It's working!"

Colonel Mann looked McGonagall in the eye with a fury the professor had not seen the colonel demonstrate before.

"How dare you!" Colonel Mann spat. "After you've seen what Ziva must be doing, after the Director being sent away by one of your illnesses, after what Jethro has just done, you dare insult us? We are giving this all we've got and it's costing us! There is a whole other side to every one of those files that you don't know!"

"I believe those files to be very thorough, Colonel," McGonagall said icily.

Colonel Mann gave a single acidic chuckle. "Are they really? In the drug dealer's file was anything said of a woman named Shannon Gibbs and her eight year old daughter, Kelly? Was anything said about their murder?"

McGonagall suddenly looked as though she had been slapped.

Colonel Mann continued, "In Grenouille's file, was anything mentioned about Jasper Sheppard and the suspicions surrounding his so-called 'suicide'? In Jeanne Benoit's file, was it mentioned that she was at risk not because of the fact that she was dating Tony, but rather the fact that her father had made quite a few enemies in his line of work? And do you know _anything_ about Officer David's upbringing? I assume you don't, in which case I'll inform you that in her world violence is unavoidable, and ever since she could walk she's been right in the middle of it.

"If you judge these agents based on what you read in those files, then I could judge Potter, Weasley, and Granger on their past years from Snape's point of view alone. Does that seem fair?

"If you can't trust these people, you can't trust anyone. And if you start spreading rumors about them, I'll put you in so much pain you'll wish you were never born." Colonel Mann pointed at Ducky's desk. "And you never read those files. Are we clear?"

The Colonel stormed out of the room.

Not even five seconds later, Colonel Mann walked back into the room. She grabbed a black bag off the table and was almost to the door once more when she turned and asked, "Didn't you have a conversation similar to this with Gibbs recently? The nerve some people have! We have one of the most thankless jobs one could possibly - " the colonel cut short, took several deep breaths, and left without wrapping up her thought.

* * *

"What else do you need, Tobias?" Gibbs asked, shoving a teddy bear into a suitcase.

Fornell threw his cell phone into his pocket. "Diane's still not answering." He peered into the open suitcase. "That looks like everything."

"Do you have your stuff?" Gibbs asked.

"Packed while I was waiting for Diane to answer her phone," Fornell said. "Where's Emily?"

"Down in the bull pen with Ducky. I'll bring her bag down," Gibbs offered.

Fornell left the room and headed down to the bull pen, Gibbs not far behind.

"Come on, Em!" Fornell called.

"We're leaving?" Emily asked.

"Yes! Now!" Fornell said fiercely.

"Can I say - "

"Emily, let's go!" Fornell said impatiently, handing his bag to Gibbs and grabbing Emily's hand.

"DiNozzo, accompany!" Gibbs ordered.

"You're not going anywhere, Jethro! Put those down!" Ducky commanded. "McGee, take the bags."

McGee grabbed the Fornells' luggage, Tony grabbed his gun. The two NCIS agents, the FBI agent, and his daughter left the Room of Requirement.

"They'll be met in Hogsmeade?" Gibbs asked Dumbledore.

"Kingsley Shacklebolt is already waiting," Dumbledore said with a nod.

"Good," Gibbs said. He wiped his bloody right hand off on his trousers and held it out to Dumbledore. After shaking hands and seeing Dumbledore leave, Gibbs went over to his desk, but was stopped by Ducky.

"No you don't, Jethro."

"I need to work, Duck," Gibbs argued.

"You are not any good to anyone bleeding all over everything! Look at your shirt! Look at your hands! Do not punish yourself! You haven't done anything!" Ducky's voice began to rise as he spoke.

"Go help Abby," Gibbs suggested as he walked around the ME.

"No," Ducky said shortly. "Sit down." He pushed down on Gibbs' shoulder. Remarkably, it worked. Gibbs fell into his chair and suddenly looked much, much older.

"Coming here was a mistake," Gibbs said quietly.

* * *

"Here is where we leave you, stranger," Magorian the centaur said to the woman.

"Thank you very much for your hospitality," the woman said with truth.

"Before we leave, human, tell us," said Firenze, "What are your names?"

The woman opened her mouth and shut it almost immediately. Her head began to pound as she searched. How could she not remember her own name? "I - I cannot remember," she finally admitted.

"You can't remember?" Bane asked disbelievingly.

The woman began to panic. She could not think of her own name.

Magorian looked at the woman, his eyebrows raised. "Be well, stranger," he said and lead his fellows away.

The woman gently set the girl sleeping on her back onto the ground. She put a hand to the back of her head and walked several circles. Finally, she threw her mind from it and pushed a branch away, revealing a small mound of dirt. She quickly dug into the dirt with her bare hands. She put her knives, flashlight, phone, lighter, batteries and spare change back in their assigned places before reaching back into the hole and pulling out a scrap of paper. She eagerly opened and read.

_Keep moving. We'll find you. -Gibbs._

The woman's sense of panic returned full force. She could not put a face with the name 'Gibbs'. Was this note a threat or was it endearment?

Her mind thrown into overdrive, the woman shoved the earth she had moved back into its correct place, quickly picked up the girl, and moved as fast as she could away from where she had been.

* * *

**Author's Note**

I haven't named the next chapter. To make up for having not done so, I will give you a hint: what happens when Gibbs meets the centaurs?

Be nice! Tell me what you thought of the chapter! Click review!


	53. Centaur's Scoop

**Fifty Three - Centaur's Scoop**

Gibbs awoke with a start at his desk. He looked at his watch. 20:00. 8 PM. He next turned his gaze across his desk. Ducky sat comfortably in a chair reading a book.

"You put something in that drink, didn't you?" Gibbs asked. He put a hand to his face. The cut in his forehead had a bandage over it. There was no blood under his nose.

Ducky looked at Gibbs and smiled briefly.

"Oh, good, Boss! You're up!" Tony said, coming into the bull pen. "There's a long line of people in MTAC that want to talk to you. Sorry, Ducky wouldn't let me wake you up."

Gibbs glared at Ducky as he got up out of his seat and climbed the stairs.

Ducky and Tony watched Gibbs go and waited for the MTAC door to close before beginning to speak.

"What do you think, Ducky?" Tony asked.

"I think this case had better be solved very soon," Ducky sighed.

"Do you think he's good to keep going?" Tony asked concernedly.

"I don't think there's anything we ought to dare try to stop him with," Ducky said.

"I'm going to go warn McGonagall. She's got to deal with him on patrol," Tony said as he headed toward the door.

"Tony!" Ducky called. "Take Timothy with you."

"I'm just going to Professor McGonagall's office, Ducky."

"Take Agent McGee with you," Ducky repeated.

Tony sighed, but went into Abby's lab and retrieved McGee before leaving.

* * *

Professor McGonagall watched Gibbs trudge on ahead of her. Just as Agent DiNozzo had warned, he moved slower, talked less, and seemed over all much more aggravated. She also noticed that he wasn't as careful as he had previously been. He left more footprints and they were much deeper. He seemed to have forgotten stealth and was focused on just moving forward.

"Prints," Gibbs said lowly, pointing at the hoof shapes on the ground. He began following them.

"Officer David's things were in the other direction," McGonagall pointed out.

"She's moved by now," Gibbs said shortly. "Our best bet is to find the centaurs."

"Yesterday you didn't want to find the centaurs."

"Yesterday Ziva and Ginny were with them and I didn't want to set the centaurs off. Ziva and Ginny are gone now, so I don't really care how the centaurs react to us. Do you have any other objections or can we keep moving?"

McGonagall considered asking how Gibbs knew Ginny and Ziva were not with the centaurs, but she looked more closely at the prints. Heading back in the direction of Ziva's things with the centaur prints were boot prints. There were none going away from the site with the hooves. "Where are Ginny's prints?" McGonagall asked instead.

"Other than this, Ziva's been ghosting. She's probably carrying Ginny," Gibbs answered.

Gibbs set his focus on the prints, backtracking. Find the centaurs, find proof of Ziva, Ginny, and their health. Gibbs' head snapped up as he heard the cracking of twigs. Immediately, he put his hand to the base of his neck, a look of pain on his face. He quickly rearranged his features and pulled out his gun.

"More humans," said an exasperated voice. A centaur came into sight, wild and aggressive looking. "I warned you, Magorian! They would be followed!"

Two more centaurs came from Gibbs' other side. Gibbs began to feel uneasy. He kept his gun aimed and ready.

"Professor McGonagall," said one of the centaurs.

"Magorian," McGonagall greeted. "It's been a while."

"It certainly has been. I suppose you are searching for your student?" Magorian asked.

"Yes," McGonagall answered.

"You, then, are looking for the woman," Magorian addressed Gibbs.

"I'm looking for both," Gibbs said.

"You missed them," said the third centaur. "We left them this morning." He looked pointedly at Gibbs' gun and his lips twitched downward slightly.

Gibbs holstered his gun, though still remained on guard. Silence reigned for a few moments as Gibbs carefully considered his next words. "How much time does the girl have?" he asked, looking Magorian straight in the eye.

"The foal is cared for," Magorian answered. "She has time."

Gibbs nodded. "Glad to hear it."

"The woman told us that she and the foal were attacked," said the third centaur.

"Silence, Firenze!" said the wild-looking centaur, stomping his hoof into the ground. "Speak when spoken to! I have lost my patience with you!"

"Peace, Bane," Magorian said calmly. He looked at Gibbs expectantly.

"They were attacked," Gibbs confirmed. "We've been looking for them ever since."

"May the fates be with you as you search," Magorian said. "Farewell." He turned and left. Bane turned back into the forest as well, but not before giving Gibbs a distrustful look.

Firenze looked up into the starry sky. "Andromeda is speaking loudly tonight," he commented. Firenze looked Gibbs straight in the eye before disappearing into the forest.

"Ziva always keeps an eye out for the Andromeda constellation," Gibbs said after a minute. "It's her favorite."

"Hagrid has said he can see the stars best from a clearing to the west," McGonagall tacked on rather casually.

"I think I'd like to see Andromeda myself," Gibbs said. "It sounds like an adventure, doesn't it, Professor?"

Professor McGonagall noticed as Gibbs turned that one of his eyes had become red and blood shot. "Perhaps the Cetus will show up early."

Gibbs headed to the west, occasionally looking up at the sky. His thoughts began to wonder. Perhaps Kort was right. The case was not being handled well. That was why Ziva had disappeared, how someone had managed to sneak into Jenny's office, and how someone had planted a bomb under Emily Fornell's chair.

Gibbs picked up his pace unconsciously as he began to get angrier and angrier with himself. Had he lost complete control of the situation? What had he been doing wrong? He had been on the same person's tail for a month. How was a person no older than eighteen getting around with such ease and stealth?

Gibbs' head began to throb and he felt the cut on his forehead reopen. He put a hand to his neck and felt his blood move rapidly under his fingers. The agent began taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself.

"You came," said Firenze's voice.

Gibbs snapped his head up, ignored the pain he felt with it, and looked at the young centaur. "Hello."

"I am glad to see the Hogwarts staff knows each other well," Firenze said, addressing McGonagall.

"I've known Hagrid for a long time," McGonagall said. "The forest and grounds are his life."

"Why did you have us come here?" Gibbs asked Firenze, cutting straight to the point.

"You want to know more than Magorian or Bane will tell you," Firenze stated.

Gibbs' eyes shone with hunger and want. "That'd be nice," he managed to say calmly.

Firenze nodded and looked at Professor McGonagall. "Your student is fairly well," he said. "She has a leg wound, but that has been cared for. She has also been given food that can last her several days."

Professor McGonagall looked visibly relieved.

"However," Firenze began again, "she is only well as long as the woman is." He turned his attention back to Gibbs. "I fear your friend will not last long. She eats very little and does not sleep well. Her eyes are dark, her skin is beginning to change. Her hair is matted with blood and dirt. She cannot remember her own name. You must find her, for the foal will die shortly after her. The foal cannot walk. The woman's legs are her's."

Gibbs kept his mouth shut and merely gave a short nod as response.

"Thank you, Firenze," McGonagall said.

"Be well, Professor, stranger." Firenze disappeared into the forest.

Gibbs walked the length of the clearing several times.

"She's losing strength," McGonagall said in a monotone.

"She's going to starve to death, the way she's going," Gibbs said agitatedly. Ziva had only been missing three days. She was rolling down hill quickly. His frustration had reached the point at which some of it needed to be spent. Gibbs pulled his knife out of his pocket, flicked it open, and threw it across the clearing. The knife hit the tree with a satisfying _thud_. Gibbs retrieved his weapon and shoved it in his pocket.

"We're done here," he growled.

"So soon?" McGonagall asked condescendingly.

"I'll send DiNozzo to check out Ziva's last known location. Are we happy?" Gibbs snarled, moving forward.

"Far from it, Agent Gibbs! Don't you want to find your agent?"

"Ziva can't remember _her_ name. Do you really think she'll be able to recall mine? Without remembering me, she can take that note I left her as a threat. Strategies need to be rethought. If we try to approach her now, someone will not get out of this forest alive, I guarantee it." As Gibbs continued pushing forward, he pulled out his phone. "Ducky? Get whatever psych profiles you can on Ziva. We've got a problem. ...Yes, another one."

* * *

He was furious. He had been thwarted once more. It was getting tiring.

He slammed his hands down on the table in front of him and hung his head as he began to rethink things. He had taken out the so called "ninja", the director, and had seen the FBI man and his daughter leave. Still, that was not enough. The rest remained.

Getting rid of the fat one would accomplish nothing, he was not high enough up in rank to make that much of a difference. The obnoxious one that was always getting slapped would have a bit more impact, but not enough. The Army woman had no ties to the main team. She would have a smaller difference than the fat one. The doctors were already weak, easy targets. Them going would be no surprise.

He considered going straight for the throat, taking out the leader. Without the leader, the entire operation would shut down and move no where. Then again, the leader had to pay. It was the leader who had ruined the brilliant set-up in the Great Hall. No, the leader had to stay alive and feel the consequences of his actions.

An evil chuckle bubbled out of his throat and a sadistic grin took over his face. How had he not seen it before?

The scientist! That was his ticket. She was never allowed anywhere by herself, and nine out of ten times it was the leader guarding her. She was important. She would teach a lesson. All he needed to do was lure her out of the protective bubble built around her.

His plotting was interrupted as the door to the room burst open.

"Past curfew. Get to your dorm," the Army woman said shortly. "What do you think you're doing out here at this time _by yourself_?"

"Venting!" he raged quite convincingly. "My school mates are dropping left and right, and what's being done about it? Eh? You lot were brought here to protect us! You can't even protect yourselves!"

He felt satisfaction well up inside as he saw the woman's shoulders rise and fall with deep breaths as she tried to keep herself from yelling. All he had to do was not back down and he would win. They were all losing patience.

"We're doing what we can. You aren't helping by sneaking around after hours. Go back to your dorm!" the woman said waspishly.

"There's that temper, Colonel," droned a voice around the corner.

The woman looked skyward as if asking for patience.

He stomped past the Army woman in a false, but convincing fit, passing the potions master on his way down the hall.

"Hey!" the Army woman called. "Your dorm is the other way! I'm not stupid enough for you to get away with that trick!"

"Could have fooled me," he muttered, turning and going the way he was supposed to. He heard heavy boot falls going the opposite direction of him and let his maniac grin spread over his face once more. Oh, yes! He was definitely winning.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - One Bird, Two Stones

In fun news today, my internet is playing games with me! Depending on how soon it is fixed, updates may slow down. -sad face-

I like it when you review!


	54. One Bird, Two Stones

**Fifty Four - One Bird, Two Stones**

"Jethro! I told you to sleep! I told you not to set your alarm!" Ducky snapped.

"You took my alarm clock, Duck," Gibbs said, sitting down in his chair. He did not stay put long. A moment later he was up and over at Tony's desk. "Tell me something."

Tony lowered the long sheet of paper in front of his face. "Based on this list compiled between the hours of 02:00 and 04:00 today, Agent McGee and I have come to the conclusion that Officer David has much knowledge on magical creatures, which will be helpful to her situation," Tony said with a receptionist's tone of voice, a false smile to match.

"On the downside," McGee added, "Ziva hardly touched anything on Herbology, which might have been just as, if not more, helpful than magical creatures."

"Breakfast, Boss?" Tony asked after a moment.

Gibbs sighed heavily. "You and McGee go down."

"You're not coming, Boss?" McGee questioned as he pushed himself out of his chair.

"I've got other things to do, McGee. Go," Gibbs ordered as he climbed the stairs to MTAC.

"Agent Gibbs!" called a voice by the door. No one had heard it open or shut.

"Professor Dumbledore," Gibbs greeted. He went back down the stairs. "What can I do for you?"

"The head of St. Mungo's has sent me an owl telling me that Director Sheppard is well enough for visitors," Dumbledore said.

"So she'll make it?" Tony asked eagerly.

"The healers are optimistic," Dumbledore said. "They do wish to keep her a while longer, however, simply to make sure she does not relapse."

Gibbs scoffed and looked up briefly. "I need to arrange to talk to her."

"I thought you might say that," Dumbledore said with a nod. "Mr. Shacklebolt has said that he will come and get whoever wishes to go just before dinner today."

Gibbs nodded. He turned to Tony and McGee. "Why are you still here?"

"Going down to the Great Hall, Boss!" Tony said quickly, heading toward the door.

"Whoah! Who's going to the Great Hall?" Abby asked, coming out of the lab.

"They'll bring something back for you, Abby!" Gibbs said irritably. "Back to work!" He dashed up the stairs without another word.

Tony breathed through his teeth and looked at the unhappy Abby nervously.

Surprisingly, Abby seemed rather calm for having just been snapped at. "Someone needs a hug," she said. "Hey! Tony, McGee! When you bring me back some toast and orange juice, can you bring back Mrs. Weasley, too?"

"I can fetch the Weasleys for you, Miss Scuito," Dumbledore offered.

"Why, thank you, Sir!" Abby said with a curtsy.

"What do you need Mrs. Weasley for, Abby?" Tony asked.

"Go get me food, DiNozzo!" Abby snapped suddenly, pointing at the door.

"Getting the angry woman food!" Tony said as he practically flew out the door.

"I'll just go with him," McGee said, edging out the door himself.

Abby put her hand to her stomach as a loud growl came from it. She lowered her head slightly. "Sorry! You know Gibbs won't let me go down there now!" Her stomach growled again. "Yep, because of the bomb."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Funny how one's stomach can say so many different things."

Abby looked up at Dumbledore. "Oh, Agnes talks to me a lot."

"Agnes?" Dumbledore asked.

"My stomach. Her name is Agnes! Haven't you named your stomach? It gives you such a greater connection!"

"I confess I have not named my stomach. The thought hadn't even crossed my mind," Dumbledore admitted.

"You should," Abby said seriously.

"I shall consider it."

"Abby! Work!" Gibbs snapped as he came down the stairs, walked past her, and stormed to his desk.

"Gibbs!" Abby fussed. "You're bleeding again!"

* * *

He looked up and down the staff table and swore inside. The scientist was not there. Only two of them were.

He breathed deeply, trying to hide his anger. In a fraction of a second, his anger boiled to rage. One of the teachers sat at the seat the scientist usually would.

"Hey, man! What's up with you?"

"Stressed about that Charms test today," he lied effortlessly. "I'm going to go look over my notes again." Quickly, before he could be questioned further, he left the table and headed into the hall. Damn those Muggles! Damn them all!

"Leaving breakfast so early?" asked a man.

He looked up at the man before him. "I'm not hungry, Professor Lupin."

"I've been feeling a bit under the weather myself," Lupin admitted. "I don't think I'll be coming to class! You caught a lucky break!"

"I guess so!" he said with a forced smile. He started back down the hall. Once out of sight of the teacher, he slinked into one of his secret passageways and vicious joy took over him once more. He slid down the wall, laughing.

Remus Lupin was feeling ill.

* * *

"So, McGee," Tony said around a mouthful of egg, "how angry do you think Gibbs will be if something else happens?"

"Furious doesn't begin to cover it," McGee said. "And I'd really rather not thing about it, thanks."

"We'll we've got to think of the possib - "

"Merlin's beard! Rolanda!" one of the teachers said loudly.

Tony and McGee leaned forward at the table just in time to see the flight instructor slide out of her seat to the floor, foam beginning to come out of her mouth.

"Damn it!" Tony said, throwing down his napkin. "Call Gibbs," he ordered McGee. He jumped out of his chair and turned Madame Hooch on her side. "Get these kids out of here!" he snapped to no one in particular.

As students were getting shoved out of the hall with various pieces of breakfast, Professor Snape quickly made his way over to Madame Hooch's spot, picked up her glass, and swished its contents around. He took a quick sniff of the liquid before raising his wand.

"Seizure, Tony?" McGee asked his colleague, phone pressed against his face.

"No, Agent McGee," Snape interjected. "Poison, and you can tell your boss so."

"Poison? Then we need an antidote!" Tony urged.

"Very good, Agent DiNozzo," Snape said dryly. He held out his hand and an unidentified object flew into it. "Move," Snape ordered Tony.

Tony scooted over, expecting to take mental notes on what Snape was doing. Snape, however, merely shoved what was in his hand into Madame Hooch's mouth and held her jaw shut.

"That's it?" Tony asked.

"It's a bezoar, Agent DiNozzo," Snape said absentmindedly, watching Madame Hooch intently, "an antidote to almost any poison."

Tony, McGee, and Snape watched with baited breath until Madame Hooch suddenly gasped and began breathing once more.

"Tony," McGee said after a moment. "That's where Abby usually sits. Coincidence?"

Tony looked at McGee. In unison they said, "I don't believe in coincidence!" with their best Gibbs voice.

* * *

"It doesn't make sense!" Gibbs fumed, walking back and forth across the morgue. "He already used poison once!"

"That, Jethro, is a point to be debated," Ducky argued. "The killer may not take full credit for Miss Clearwater's poisoning. Yes, she was killed by his bidding, but he did not choose the weapon of her demise. However, I do not think that is what you are most concerned about."

Gibbs stopped his pacing and breathed heavily. "Madame Hooch was sitting where Abby normally would have been," he said in a hoarse voice, as if afraid he might be overheard.

"And that is undoubtedly messing with your head. Does Abby know?"

"She knows," Gibbs answered.

"I think you ought to go see what she has for you," Ducky suggested.

Gibbs walked through the door in the wall into Abby's lab. "Abbs!"

"Gibbs!" Abby exclaimed. She threw her arms around him. "I've got news you're not going to like."

"Is that what the hug is for?" Gibbs asked.

"No," Abby said, pulling out of the hug. "The hug was because you needed it. The bad news is that I need to leave headquarters."

"Why?" Gibbs asked, dragging out his word.

"Because of this," Abby said. She held out a goblet and a flask of liquid, both in evidence bags. "This is poison, and not of our kind."

"Snape didn't figure it out when he gave Hooch the antidote?" Gibbs questioned.

"It was a general antidote, Gibbs!" Abby said, her face falling. "When am I going?"

"I'll take you when I get back from seeing the Director," Gibbs said, heading out the door.

"Wait! When's that?"

"I'll take you at curfew, Abbs!"

* * *

"Finally, a familiar face!" Jenny sighed

"You sound like hell," Gibbs commented.

"Shut up and give me some real food, Jethro!" Jenny said irritably.

"This hospital's food isn't better than the regular?"

"Only slightly. Give!" Jenny demanded, hand outstretched.

"Do you realize you're literally green?" Gibbs asked as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a few pieces of chicken wrapped in foil.

"Thanks for pointing that out, Jethro! I didn't feel enough like a mutant before," Jenny said sarcastically as she tore open the foil packages. "So," she began speaking around a chunk of chicken, "Fill me in. They haven't told me anything! Did you find Ziva? Is she alright?"

Gibbs sat on the edge of Jenny's bed and grabbed a chicken leg. "We didn't find Ziva, and from what we've heard, she isn't alright."

"Damn," Jenny hissed. "Do we know anything about the Weasley girl?"

"She's fine as long as Ziva's alive."

Jenny considered for a moment. "How do you know this?"

"Ziva managed to pull off staying with centaurs for a night. One of the centaurs told us how each of them were doing."

"Alright, so Ginny will live as long as Ziva can take care of her. What's with Ziva?" Jenny asked eagerly.

"Can't remember her own name, isn't eating, isn't sleeping," Gibbs said shortly.

Jenny took a deep breath. "What else have I missed?"

"Fornell and Emily left - "

"I didn't clear that!" Jenny objected.

"I cleared it after the killer planted a bomb under Emily's chair," Gibbs said.

"I only missed two days!" Jenny exclaimed.

"You also missed at attempt on Abby," Gibbs added.

"On Abby?" Jenny asked, senses picking up further. If Abby had been attacked, Gibbs was far angrier than he was letting on.

"Killer put poison in the cup where she'd normally sit. Luckily, she wasn't there. Madame Hooch took the poison, instead. Snape fixed her up pretty quickly," Gibbs said, reaching for another piece of chicken.

Jenny slapped his hand away, snagged the piece she wanted, and let Gibbs have the last one. "The healers are making me stay a few more days."

"I know."

"What are you going to do?"

Gibbs heaved a sigh. "Pray," he said quietly. "That's about all I can do."

Jenny threw a wadded piece of foil at her colleague. "Get the hell out of this room if you're giving up!"

"I am _not_ giving up!" Gibbs said aggressively.

"Then _prove it_, Jethro!"

Silence full of tension settled.

A woman with her dull red hair pulled back into a bun and dressed in green robes popped her head into the room. "Problems, Director?" she asked.

"No," Gibbs growled at the woman.

"I'm fine, Carlie, thanks," Jenny said kindly.

Carlie looked suspiciously at Gibbs, but retreated anyway.

"Do you really have to make a scene everywhere you go?" Jenny asked viciously.

"Are you going to ask how you managed to get into the situation you're in?" Gibbs asked.

Jenny leaned up. "You traced it!"

"He rigged your chair with three needles. One to inject the Dragon Pox, two to draw blood."

Jenny rubbed her leg. "I guess that explains the bruise."

Gibbs reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and answered it. "Gibbs."

_"First off, tell the Director I say hi! Second, are you planning on coming back soon?"_

"Abby, I said I'd take you at curfew."

_"Dinner's over now. I can just have Tony take me!"_

"No. I'll be back soon, Abbs! Find something else to do for now!"

_"You're pushing my patience, Gibbs!"_

Gibbs flipped his phone shut. "Abby says hi."

"I heard," Jenny said. She sighed. "Go. I'm no help. You're needed back at the school."

Gibbs reached into his pocket once more and procured several folded pieces of paper. "Letters from authority figures."

"Oh, joy," Jenny said flatly.

* * *

"Tony or McGee could have taken me hours ago, Gibbs!" Abby said sourly as she walked beside Gibbs down the hall way.

"Tony and McGee have their own work to do," Gibbs said without looking at the forensic scientist.

"So do you, Gibbs!"

"My work is to keep you safe, Abby."

"And I appreciate your keeping me safe, Gibbs. But I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."

"Ziva can take care of herself, too," Gibbs argued. His point had the desired effect.

Abby remained quiet until reaching the door to the Potions classroom. She knocked twice and entered before being invited in. "Professor Snape!" she called.

"Miss Scuito. Agent Gibbs," Snape said blandly. "It's nice to see you could finally make it down here."

"We're a bit busy, Professor," Gibbs defended.

Abby handed Snape two evidence bags, one with a goblet in it and the other with a flask of liquid. "Do you think you can have it done tomorrow by tomorrow morning?"

Snape looked at Abby's smiling face unamusedly. "I will inform you when I've come to a conclusion."

"Thanks!" Abby said cheerily. She lead the way out of the room into the hallway.

"One of those people persons, isn't he?" Gibbs asked with an amused scoff.

"He reminds me of you, Gibbs!" Abby said.

Gibbs looked at Abby oddly.

"He puts on a cold front, but I think that deep down, he really does care. He's just a big... no. He's not really a softie. I can't think of the right word. But when I do, you'll be the second to know it!"

Gibbs threw his arm in front of Abby, halting her progression forward.

"Gibbs! I'm fine taking a detour, but I thought you'd want to get back as soon - "

"Shh!" Gibbs said lowly.

Abby began to feel fear creep through her body. She forgot to breathe as she watched Gibbs. He was listening intently and definitely on edge.

From down the hall came the sound of a low, yet terrifying growl. Abby dared to turn her head around and look. "Gibbs," she whimpered, pulling on his sleeve.

Gibbs followed Abby's finger and looked at the massive creature at the end of the hall. He shot a quick glance out the window and his idea was proven correct. A full moon shone brightly in the night sky.

Gibbs put himself between Abby and the werewolf slowly creeping toward them. "Step back, Abby," Gibbs ordered in hushed tones.

Abby grabbed the back of Gibbs' jacket and began stepping back, taking him with her. "Shouldn't I call McGee or Tony?"

"Not fast enough," Gibbs pointed out in a hushed tone.

Abby strengthened the grip she had on Gibbs' clothes as the werewolf bared its teeth.

Gibbs looked desperately around the hall for a moment before slowly reaching for his gun. "On three knock over that suit of armor and run as fast as you can," Gibbs said hoarsely. "Don't look back, and don't stop until you get back to headquarters."

"But -"

"No arguments!" Gibbs said. "One... two... three!"

Saying a prayer as she went, Abby released Gibbs, grabbed the nearest suit of armor, and threw it down onto the ground with a loud clatter. Intent on doing as Gibbs had said, she put her foot forward, set to sprint. Her boot, however, made a different decision. It caught on the suit's arm and Abby fell to the ground.

Gibbs glanced at Abby, but quickly snapped his attention back to the werewolf as its heavy paws hit the ground. He raised his gun and fired three rounds. The creature was hit in the shoulder, but hardly deterred. If anything, it was only angrier.

Knowing his gun was no good, Gibbs turned his attention to the fallen Abby. He grabbed her under the arms and pulled her against the wall. She quickly fitted herself into the space the suit of armor she had thrown down had occupied.

Gibbs barely moved out of the way in time as a massive paw swiped at him. His mind whirled as he tried to think of a strategy. They had made enough noise. Surely someone would hear and come help. All Gibbs had to do was keep the wolf away from Abby until said help arrived.

The wolf looked at Gibbs with ravenous, yellow eyes, saliva hanging out of its mouth. It never stopped growling as it circled the human slowly. Finally, it jumped at Gibbs. Once again, luck was on Gibbs' side. He dove off to the side and jumped back up to his feet.

In the snap second Gibbs was not looking, the werewolf shifted its attention to Abby, who was now completely boxed into the small part of the wall that had been cut out to fit one human.

"Hey!" Gibbs shouted. He stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled as loud as he could. The wolf turned its sickly gaze back onto Gibbs and raised its hackles. Gibbs grabbed a banner hanging on the wall, let the cloth slide off the end, and held the rod in both hands. He hit the metal end of the banner's support against the stone wall several times, creating a highly annoying clanging sound.

Before he even knew what was happening, Gibbs found himself pinned to the ground by the massive creature. He quickly raised his makeshift weapon above himself, intercepting the wolf's jaws. His face began to turn red and his breathing grew irregular as he fought to keep the creature's fangs away from his skin. He began putting more strength into his right arm, hoping to force the wolf off him. The beast, however, was far too strong for such a thing to work.

The sound of another suit of armor hitting the ground came from down the hall. Once again, the wolf's attention was drawn elsewhere. It got off Gibbs and turned toward the other side of the hall. Before the creature could even take two steps, Gibbs stuck the banner in front of its back legs. The beast tripped and its attention was redirected at Gibbs.

Gibbs took a fighting stance, pointing the slightly sharpened end of the banner at the mythical animal before him. Where was everyone? They had knocked over two suits of armor, fired several shots, yelled, and brought many loud sounds out of the werewolf.

The wolf jumped at Gibbs once more. This time, however, the man was prepared. He caught the animal at just the right point and put all his strength into his arms, somehow managing to flip the creature over him with his surprisingly useful weapon. Gibbs quickly put himself back between the monster and the end of the hallway Abby was in.

An eerie and terrifying howl came out of the creature's mouth. Its eyes locked on Gibbs and it began snarling and drooling more than ever before.

"Get out of here, Abby!" Gibbs shouted.

"I can't!" Abby squealed nervously. "My ankle!"

Gibbs huffed agitatedly, though he did not have long to focus on Abby.

The werewolf dashed across the hall and began making swipe after swipe at Gibbs with its intimidating clawed paws. Gibbs blocked attack after attack with his makeshift weapon, being pushed back slightly every time the wolf swung its paw. The gears in his head turned furiously as the pole began to bend. He would need a new weapon, and quickly.

Gibbs' weapon had reached its final stage of usefulness, a couple more hits and it would surely snap in half. He redirected the werewolf's paw once more and threw his weapon off with the attack. At the same time, he leapt at the wall, aiming to grab another banner hanging. A pained shout ripped out of Gibbs' chest as he felt several sharp things dig into his back. Anger, rage, and the desire to leave alive with Abby soon overwhelmed the searing pain Gibbs felt. He tore the banner off the wall and swung it at the beast with all the might he could muster. Gibbs ran back over to Abby's end of the hall.

The wolf was knocked slightly off balance, but it soon regained its usual composure. It bared its teeth at Gibbs, let an indescribable sound bubble out of its throat, and charged, spit flying out of its mouth as it went. Gibbs brace himself, banner held out in front of him.

Something shiny caught Abby's eye. She looked at the bent banner pole just within arm's reach and quickly grabbed it. She waited, various calculations rushing through her head as she studied the creature run down the hall. Finally, it got close to her. Abby hurled the bent banner. Her guess was an accurate one. the banner caught the creature mid-step and it fell to the ground.

Gibbs jumped onto the monster's back, put the banner under its neck, secured the beam with the bend in his arms, and pulled. The creature began leaping about, desperately trying to throw off the man slowly cutting off its air supply.

The hall was suddenly filled with the sound of many people shouting at once. Gibbs raised his eyes to see several robed people standing at either end of the hallway, wands raised. He tumbled off the werewolf's back and rolled over to Abby. He squeezed himself into the small space meant for one suit of armor, pinning Abby up against the wall behind him.

As beams of various colored lights flooded the hall, the werewolf became disoriented, quite unsure of where to turn. The robed figures began closing in on it until the monster was forced to turn into a hallway leading to the dungeons. A minute later, a heavy door slammed shut.

Gibbs cautiously looked out into the hall.

"Agent Gibbs! Miss Scuito!"

Gibbs examined the robed figures more closely, finally noticing their faces. Many of the Hogwarts teachers had gathered in the hallway to assist and diffuse the situation. He turned around to look at Abby. The front of her shirt had turned red and his concern peaked.

"It's not my blood, Gibbs!" Abby said worriedly.

Gibbs remembered the ripping sensation he had experienced in his back. He reached a hand over his shoulder and brought in back in front of his face. He looked at his crimson colored fingers confusedly for a moment before everything went black.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Two Birds, One Stone ....yes, I am serious.

I'm just having great luck with everything. My internet is still messed up and now my car is broken. Yay for friends driving friends to the library! Gosh, you all are a pain, did you know? If it weren't for you I wouldn't owe my friend a batch of brownies.

As payment for your being a pain, I demand a review.


	55. Two Birds, One Stone

**Two Birds, One Stone**

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" a voice said over and over again very quickly.

"Abby!"

"Look at him, Tony! Oh my GOD!"

"This is why you weren't brought here earlier, Abby!"

Special Agent Gibbs forced his eyes open. As he did, he realized he hurt all over and that he had been turned on his side. He slowly rolled into his back to look at whoever was talking. Pain rushed to all his extremities, and Gibbs suddenly remembered why he had not been put on his back.

"Gibbs!" Abby squealed. She flung herself at Gibbs, wrapping her arms tightly around him. "You're awake!"

"Boss, you're ten times more badass than I ever realized," Tony said.

Gibbs gently batted Abby away from him and slowly sat up, trying not to express pain in his face. He looked at Tony expectantly.

"You fought off a werewolf, Boss!" Tony explained with awe.

"I'm more interested in what happened after that, DiNozzo," Gibbs said.

"You passed out!" Abby said quickly. "You lost a lot of blood, Gibbs! You've been out for 46 hours, seven minutes, and nineteen seconds! Don't do that to me!" Abby fretted, stomping her foot to show her anger.

"DiNozzo..."

"Professer Flitwick heard a suit of armor fall, Boss. He went to check it out and saw you trying to push the werewolf off of you. By the way, bonus points for creativity with your weapon." Tony registered the rather agitated look on Gibbs' face, cleared his throat, and continued. "Flitwick saw you losing ground but knew he couldn't take care of the werewolf on his own. He knocked down another suit to distract it and went off for help. Two minutes later most of the staff gathered and forced the werewolf into the dungeons."

"Snape wasn't happy about it at all!" Abby said. "Right after the dungeon door shut he started arguing with Dumbledore about something."

"He probably didn't like his classroom and office being blocked off, Abby!" Tony offered explanation.

"Why was Remus Lupin out in the halls on a full moon?" Gibbs asked.

"We're still working on that, Boss," Tony answered. "Snape insists he dropped off the last bit of Lupin's potion, and Lupin insists it wasn't there. He was going down to Snape's to get more when he walked past the wrong window and then... you know."

"Get Abby back to her lab, DiNozzo."

"No, Gibbs!" Abby objected. "I'm staying here!"

"Abby," Gibbs said exasperatedly.

Abby sighed. "You're forcing me to play dirty, Gibbs." She turned toward Madame Pomfrey's office. "Madame Pomfrey! He's awake!"

"Abby!" Gibbs snapped.

Madame Pomfrey came out of her office. "What are you doing on your back?" she chastised Gibbs.

Gibbs gave Abby a displeased look as Madame Pomfrey began fussing about him. Abby smiled sweetly and pulled up a chair.

"What other news have you got, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"Don't you worry about it," Madame Pomfrey scolded, measuring several things out into a vial. "Agent DiNozzo has been handling things just fine."

Gibbs looked Tony over and gave a small scoff at his agent's sad and disheveled appearance. "You been sleeping, Tony?"

"Yeah," Tony said agitatedly. "A whole thirty minutes at my desk last night."

The hospital wing doors flung open. "First bombs, then werewolves. Who looks like hell now, Jethro?" asked Jenny Sheppard. Her skin was fairly green from her fight with dragon pox. With her red hair she looked rather Christmas-y.

"She was abducted by aliens!" Tony whispered to Abby.

Madame Pomfrey looked at Jenny agitatedly. "You, Director, aren't supposed to be out of St. Mungo's yet!"

"I got out early on good behavior," Jenny said calmly.

"Did anyone see you, Jen?" Gibbs asked.

Jenny gave Gibbs an "Are you serious?" look. He nodded in satisfaction.

Madame Pomfrey shoved a glass in Gibbs' hand. "Drink this." She headed back into her office to grab something else.

Gibbs threw the contents of the glass down his throat. "Alright, DiNozzo. Suit," he said, holding his hands out.

Tony reached into his backpack and pulled out a blue jumpsuit that said "Medical Examiner" on the back. "Ducky's subtle way of telling you to see him when you get back," Tony said, handing it off to Gibbs.

"I'll keep her distracted," Jenny volunteered, walking across the wing to the nurse's office, pulling a list out of her pocket along the way.

Tony pulled the curtains around Gibbs' bed shut.

"What do you have on Ziva, Tony?" Gibbs asked behind the curtain.

"Haven't found her yet, Boss. Abby had a good idea, though," Tony said, turning toward the scientist.

"I always have good ideas, DiNozzo!" Abby said defensively.

"Abby!" Gibbs barked.

"Ginny's hair is bright red. It'd be easy to see in the forest. If you - let me rephrase. If Tony finds the hair for me, I can confirm it's Ginny's with mitochondrial DNA and hopefully figure out where the heck Ziva's going!" Abby said excitedly.

Gibbs came out in the medical examiner jumpsuit.

"I like it," Abby commented.

"Let's go," Gibbs ordered.

"If you don't want to be seen, Boss, getting back to headquarters is going to take a bit longer," Tony said.

"Are you sure that's everything?" Jenny's voice floated across the wing. "Wait! Did you give me this thing here? I'm one vial short."

"Let's get moving!" Gibbs said urgently. He, Tony, and Abby stepped out of the wing as quietly as they could.

* * *

He stood in the middle of one of his many secret rooms, chest heaving. They were both alive. That damn Muggle had fought off a werewolf and escaped with mere scratches on his back.

He was beyond furious. All his attempts were failing. The damn Muggles persevered. But how? He had thrown all he could think of at them. He had gone for the director, the foreign woman, the scientist, and the leader. He swore. The only ones that mattered at all left for him to get were the fat one and the obnoxious one. He considered. Getting rid of one or the other would not make too much of an impact. But if he got both together...

The obnoxious one was often seen with the fat one, and it was plain as day to him that the obnoxious one wanted glory and attention. All he needed to do was appeal to that longing while he was with the fat one to get them both. If the obnoxious one dove in, the fat one would follow.

He lit a match for therapeutic reasons, but as he watched the match burn, a light bulb went off in his head. He let the match fell to the ground and pulled out his wand. With his magic, he controlled the fire effortlessly. The fire was his. It would do as he commanded.

He stood back and watched a table burn with evil satisfaction. The leader's support would soon be gone.

* * *

Jenny walked into the bull pen in all her greenish glory. "You owe me, Gibbs!"

"No I don't," Gibbs argued. "Paris."

Jenny sneered at him. "Madame Pomfrey is very upset."

"Ah," Gibbs said carelessly. "She did her job. I feel fine."

"Bull," Jenny said. "You almost bled out."

"'Almost' is an exaggeration," Gibbs said.

"It took Madame Pomfrey at least three minutes to get to you and you were bleeding profusely the entire time! Four cuts, each at least half an inch deep. You're lucky you're not a quadriplegic! More than that, you're lucky it was Lupin's paw that caught you instead of his mouth!"

"Is it really six thirty already?" Gibbs asked, looking at his watch.

"Gibbs!"

Gibbs ignored Jenny's outrage and pulled his gun and badge out of a drawer. "You'd better get up to MTAC. Director David has been wanting to talk to you," he said as he headed into Abby's lab.

Jenny glared after Gibbs for a moment before turning on her heel and storming up to MTAC.

Seconds after Jenny shut the door to MTAC, Gibbs walked back into the bull pen and smiled smugly.

Tony, McGee, and Colonel Mann all entered the room together. Colonel Mann gave Gibbs a burning glare.

"Going to yell at me, Holly?" Gibbs asked.

Colonel Mann did not grace Gibbs with an answer. She went into the morgue without a word.

"DiNozzo, did Snape get back to us with Madame Hooch's poison?"

"Not yet, Boss," Tony said quickly.

"Turn around. Give him a visit," Gibbs ordered.

Tony turned slowly and with an upset look on his face and retraced his steps out the door.

"Go with him, McGee," Gibbs said.

With the bull pen empty, Gibbs straightened his back and felt scabs pull and break in several places. He felt sore all over. Things were not going well at all.

* * *

"McGee, you've seen that pretty picture a hundred times! Keep moving!" Tony snapped.

"Stop it, Tony! I swear I see something here!" McGee argued.

Tony stepped next to McGee and looked at the painting interestedly for a moment before tapping his colleague on the back of the head. "You see colors and moving things. Are you not used to that yet? Come on! I don't want to leave Boss by himself."

"Even you're worried about him," McGee said with surprise.

"He almost got blown up and was attacked by a werewolf that knocked him out for two days," Tony said. "Yeah, I'm a little concerned."

"How do you think Ziva's managing?" McGee asked hesitantly.

Tony considered for a few moments before speaking heavily. "I think she's doing better than either of us would."

"Remember how Ziva would tell us about her dad leaving her in the woods to find her own way home?" McGee inquired, amusement sneaking into his voice.

"Director David's a strange man," Tony said. "Come to think of it, Ziva's been in this kind of situation before..."

"Really?"

"She told me that she and her family went on one of their special 'David camping trips' and she was separated form her siblings. She found Tali, her little sister, with a twisted ankle a day into the 'adventure'. Had to carry her for two full days until they found home."

McGee chuckled. "Didn't their brother start telling them that he used to have a big brother that didn't get home fast enough on one of the trips?"

"Half-brother, McGoo," Tony corrected.

"A brother is a brother," McGee stated.

"You don't even have a brother, Probie!"

"Neither do you!"

"What is that?" Tony asked suddenly, pointing at the ceiling.

"Come on, Tony. I'm not falling for it," McGee scoffed.

"Is that smoke?" Tony inquired.

McGee sighed, but finally looked up. His eyes widened and he reached for his phone. "Where's it coming from?" he asked as he dialed.

Tony began following the smoke as best as he could until he could hear the faint popping and crackling of flames. "Oh, come on!" he said angrily, picking up pace.

"Boss?" McGee said into his phone. "There's a fire in the school. ...We're on the second floor." McGee stopped as Tony did and looked at the scene before them. "Yeah, it's a big fire," McGee said to his boss.

_"You stay on the phone, McGee! I'm coming!"_ said Gibbs over the phone.

A blood curdling scream suddenly came from the flames followed by several shouts.

"Students, Boss! I repeat, students in the fire!" McGee said with panic. "Gotta go, Boss!" He hung up his phone, despite Gibbs' yelling at him not to.

"I love my job, I love my job, I love my job!" Tony chanted to himself as he threw himself down onto the floor and crawled into the flames.

"Tony!" McGee shouted. He looked around for a moment, completely unsure of what to do. If Gibbs knew, he would bring help, McGee reasoned. Hoping for an immense amount of luck, McGee went into the flames after Tony.

* * *

Gibbs burst into MTAC.

"Agent Gibbs," Jenny said agitatedly. "Can this wait?" she asked, gesturing to the face of Leon Vance on the screen.

Gibbs walked over to the huge board of walls and pushed several buttons until Vance's face disappeared.

"This better be pretty damn - "

"DiNozzo and McGee just went after some students in a fire on the second floor."

"What are you doing up here?" Jenny asked as she power walked toward and out the doors.

Gibbs followed Jenny out, grabbed Colonel Mann and Ducky, and then ran out the door into the hallway. The group did not stop running until they hit the second floor when they finally saw the roaring flames.

"They're not out yet!" Colonel Mann stated the obvious with panic.

Gibbs looked at the flames in horror. His team was in there.

"McGee!" Colonel Mann shouted as loud as she could. "DiNozzo!"

Gibbs ripped the bag Ducky had brought out of the doctor's hands and pulled a face mask out of it, snapped it on his face and turned back toward the flames just as a figure tumbled out of them."McGee!" Gibbs said loudly. He rushed over to his agent.

With the help of Gibbs, McGee pulled an unconscious girl with bushy brown hair slung around his shoulders off. He looked down at the two boys who had fallen on the ground, gasping for breath. One of them had broken his glasses. McGee suddenly tensed and looked back at the burning orange. "Boss!" he shouted over the crackling flames. "Tony stayed back to check for other kids!"

Without a word, Gibbs pulled a second mask out of Ducky's bag and headed toward the flames.

Colonel Mann grabbed Gibbs' arm and held out her spare hand for the masks. "I'll go. You're likely to -"

Gibbs ripped his arm free of Colonel Mann's grasp and darted into the fire. He could hardly see in front of himself and the smoke stung his eyes. Gibbs was forced to feel in front of him to try to find the man he was responsible for.

Finally, Gibbs' fingers closed on something that gave in to the pressure of his hand. He traced his hand along the fabric he felt until hitting skin. Gibbs put his fingers to the neck of the fallen figure and felt a pulse. He put the spare mask he had grabbed onto the face of the man laying on the floor. Beginning to feel dizzy, Gibbs lifted the weight of the fallen man onto his back and crawled as quickly as he could in the direction he had come.

"Oh, thank God!" Colonel Mann exclaimed as she saw Gibbs come out of the fire. She rushed over and pulled Tony off Gibbs' back. McGee ran over as well and, with his jacket, smothered the fire still clinging to Tony's arm. He and Colonel Mann dragged Tony away from the heat and gently laid him down within Ducky's reach. Gibbs managed to drag himself across the hall to everyone else before collapsing.

Suddenly Jenny had joined the group. "What do you need me to do, Ducky?" she asked, grabbing gloves and throwing them on.

Dumbledore and the four Heads of Houses hurried past everyone to the flames. They raised their wands and in an instant water poured onto the flames, quickly diminishing them.

Tony opened his eyes and looked around him, finally turning his head to the left and looking at his boss laying on the ground beside him. Gibbs raised his arm and brought his hand down on Tony's head with a _smack_. "Don't you _ever_ do that again!" Gibbs dangerously ordered.

Tony turned his head to his right and looked up at McGee. The look on McGee's face told Tony what he wanted to know: Gibbs had just injured himself even further.

* * *

He burst into his secret room, slammed the door shut, and looked around for a brief moment before upturning a table.

They were alive! Both of them! ALL of them!! He had seen them all escape with his own eyes! The red-headed woman had even returned from St. Mungo's!

He grabbed a vase in the corner of the room and threw it with all his might. It was not worth the effort to go after anyone else!

Breathing heavily, he came to the only option he had left. Seeing as she could not do the job herself, he decided to finish off the foreign woman. And he would make sure it was done in such a way that the image would stay in the leader's head for the remainder of his days.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Opportunity Through Death

Good news! My internet is fixed! Huzzah!

Leave a review, please! It motivates me to update faster!


	56. Opportunity Through Death

**Opportunity Through Death**

Gibbs sat in the replica of his basement in an inexpressible fury.

Ziva was still missing, Fornell and Emily were on the run, Jenny could not be seen by anyone more than absolutely necessary. Abby had almost been poisoned and almost had a werewolf eat her for a midnight snack. Now Tony and McGee had been gone after.

Gibbs sighed deeply and winced as pain radiated through his body. He was exhausted, mentally and physically. He had no idea what to do next. He had no leads. Gibbs put his elbow on his workbench and lowered his pounding head onto his hand.

How were things going to end well? How was he going to get his team home safely, when they had almost all been hurt already? How many more students were going to be separated from their families before the culprit would be caught?

Gibbs picked up a chisel and hammer. He put the chisel to a plank of wood and tapped it lightly a few times before some amount of his pent up anger took over his limbs. Gibbs swung the hammer down onto the chisel and split the piece of wood into uneven pieces. He threw down his tools and smacked his hand on the table several times before slamming himself back onto his stool.

* * *

"That's the fifth outburst," Abby said heavily, looking at her computer screen.

"You know he knows you're watching him, right?" Tony asked.

"That's another thing that's scaring me," Abby admitted. "I've been watching him since he went down there and he hasn't looked at the camera once!"

"I take it he hasn't tried to pick any of those locks, either," Tony commented, looking at the door to Gibbs' basement. Abby had added several locks and put quite a bit of weight in front of the door.

"There! There it is! I told you he's hiding more pain!" Abby exclaimed, pointing at her screen.

Tony hurried over to witness his boss limp in circles. He looked at his watch. "There's not a clock down there, is there?"

"No. And he threw his phone fifteen minutes ago. It shattered," Abby informed.

"Alright. I'm going to patrol with McGonagall, then. Set all the clocks ahead at least three hours. If he asks, McGee and I are talking with Snape about the poison," Tony said, looking at Abby pointedly.

"Got it," Abby said with a nod. After Tony left the room, she turned back to her computer screen just as Gibbs looked straight into the camera, an indescribable emotion on his face.

* * *

The woman tossed and turned, trying to find a position comfortable enough to fall asleep in, but not stay asleep. Staying still for too long was not a good idea, even at night.

Finally, she situated herself and began dozing off when she heard a loud hiss somewhere in the trees. Her eyes snapped open. She pulled herself off the ground and fumbled to pull her knife out. _"Come out!" _she demanded in a foreign tongue.

A rather fat, orange, bowlegged cat with a bottlebrush tail and a squished face came into the clearing, the moon reflecting off its yellow eyes.

The woman placed herself between the creature and the sleeping girl on the ground, not trusting its innocent appearance. She kept her grip tight on her blade.

The woman slowly loosened her handle on the blade as the minutes went by and the cat made no move.

After another few minutes, the cat stood up and walked backward into the woods.

The woman pocketed her blade and walked over to the girl, bracing herself for the weight she was about to take on.

Another rustle sounded through the clearing and the woman brought her attention back to where the cat had come and gone. The space was now filled with a man with matted black hair down to his elbows and sickly, taut yellow skin. The woman once more went for her blade, but her fingers did not move as quickly as her mind. The knife fell to the ground.

"I don't want to hurt you," the man said with a raspy voice.

_"Get away from me, you demon!"_ the woman spat, still in a foreign language. _"I will kill you with my bare hands!_"

"English," the man calmly requested. "I know you speak it."

The woman made several attempts at speech before finally getting the right language. "Who are you?" she snapped.

"Ask the girl. She could tell you," the man suggested, gesturing toward the still sleeping girl.

"Leave her out of this," the woman said dangerously.

"I plan to. There's something you need to see. Come quickly!"

"I do not trust you," the woman bluntly objected.

"You want to get back to the school. This is your chance!"

"The school?" the woman queried.

The man hardly seemed surprised by the lack of memory. "The castle. The building with all the people in it."

"What about it?"

"You want to get back to it."

"If I wanted to be back I would have been back days ago," the woman said through her teeth.

"I know," said the man. "I've been following you for two days now. You haven't noticed. If I had wanted to kill you I would have done it already. Now will you come with me or not?"

The woman reached down to pick up her knife. Upon the man making no objection, she agreed to going with him and went to grab the girl.

"You can leave her here. This should not take very long. She will be fine," the man said. As he spoke, the orange cat came out of the woods once more. It flopped down at the girl's side, its twitching tail tapping her leg gently.

The woman scribbled a quick note in the dirt and left with the man.

"I understand you don't want to be met by the wrong people," the man said as he lead the way through the woods, "so you need to get the right people to come to you. This," he said, stepping into another clearing, "is your chance."

The woman looked at the horrible sight in front of her. A child with long black hair and darker skin hung from a tree, rope tied around her neck. Something dripped off her lifeless fingers onto the forest floor. Upon closer inspection, the woman discovered the dripping substance to be blood.

"Who did this?" she asked with a certain horror.

"The same person that put you out here," the man said.

"You saw him?" the woman asked eagerly.

"No," the man stated. "But this is your opportunity to get back. This is fairly deep into the forest. No one come out here unless something tips them off to come here," he said.

"You are right," the woman said after a few moments.

"When you get back," the man said, "would you convey a message for me?"

"Yes," the woman said. "I owe you that much."

"Tell them that I'm not the man they should be looking for, and I'm not here to do what they think. I am after someone they would never suspect."

"I will," the woman said firmly.

The man shook hands with the woman and disappeared into the forest.

The woman went back, grabbed the girl, and returned to the clearing once more to begin her work.

* * *

"Agent Gibbs!" called a man.

Gibbs looked up at the source of the voice, a balding man with violently red hair. Beside the balding man stood two younger men who had to be his relatives. "Mr. Weasley," Gibbs greeted, getting up from his desk. "How are Ron, Harry, and Hermione holding up?"

"Madame Pomfrey says they'll be fine with a few days' rest. Your agents got through the fire to them rather quickly.

"I'd like to introduce you to my oldest sons, Bill and Charlie," Mr. Weasley said, gesturing to each son in turn. "They've come to help search."

"I appreciate the offer - " one of the sons cut Gibbs off.

"Agent Gibbs," said Bill, "I understand that you don't want to bring anyone new on. However, you need some new blood."

"We saw one of your people running through the halls with his arm in a sling and you don't look to be in too good of shape yourself," Charlie boldly added.

"Was this man running through the halls by himself?" Gibbs asked after a moment, a flash of anger passing through his eyes.

"Yes," Charlie said slowly.

Gibbs sighed. Just as he was about to speak, the door to the Room of Requirement flung open and Tony walked in.

"How many Weasleys are there?" Tony asked, looking at the group before him. "Oh, Boss, before I forget, Ducky told me to tell you, and I quote," Tony adapted a Ducky-like accent, "'Quit skating around me and get that damn back checked out!' As I said, I was quoting, so there's no reason for a head slap."

Gibbs reached out and smacked Tony upside the head, anyway. "That's for going around without McGee!"

"Abby wouldn't let McGee go, Boss!" Tony said sourly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Meet Charlie Weasley, DiNozzo. He'll be replacing Madame Hooch on patrol," Gibbs said.

"Tony DiNozzo!" Tony said, holding out his left, unslung hand to Charlie.

Charlie shook Tony's hand with an uncertain look on his face. "What happened to Madame Hooch that I have to replace her?"

"Hooch? Poisoned. Me? Burned. Him?" Tony asked, pointing at Gibbs. "Any number of things. Pick door 1, 2, or 3."

Gibbs raised his hand to hit Tony once more. Tony flinched and braced himself and Gibbs dropped his arm. "Go get McGee," Gibbs ordered, pointing to Abby's lab.

"Getting McGee," Tony said. He turned toward the lab. "PROBIE!!!!"

Gibbs exhaled as Tony walked away.

"Do you have anything you can tell us?" Mr. Weasley asked eagerly.

Gibbs thought it over for a few moments before coming to his conclusion. "They're alive."

Mr. Weasley looked suspiciously at Gibbs. "Just what aren't you telling me, sir?" he asked with aggression beginning to come into his voice.

"Nothing that you need to be concerned about at this point in time," Gibbs said evenly.

"Now see here, Agent Gibbs! This is my daughter and I believe I have every right to know about everything going on with her!"

"She's alive, Mr. Weasley, and she'll be that way for a while yet, as far as we can tell." Gibbs did his best to suppress his own emotions, but they still flitted through his eyes enough to Mr. Weasley to catch them.

The door to the room burst open. "Help! Professor Sprout needs your help!" shouted an older student with dull red hair.

Tony and McGee came out of the lab and looked at the boy. "Is this really another Weasley?" Tony asked. "No! You're the kid from the library! Leo something, right?"

"Rob Neco," the boy harshly corrected.

"What happened?" Gibbs asked the student.

"Professor Sprout wouldn't let us see. She just sent me to go get you," the student said with heavy breaths.

"Grab your gear!" Gibbs shouted at his team."McGee! Find Colonel Mann and meet us down by the greenhouses with Ducky! You," Gibbs said, pointing at the boy, "go tell Dumbledore what you told me. Weasleys, go back to the hospital wing."

Rob Neco hurried out the door, McGee rushed up the stairs to MTAC, and Tony followed Gibbs out of the room.

* * *

Gibbs and Tony looked at what was before them.

A girl with red hair covering her face hung from a tree on the edge of the forest, her body gently being blown about by the wind.

"Boss, that's not - I mean, it can't be.... Can it?" Tony questioned.

Gibbs forced himself to step forward until he was almost under the girl and looked up at her face. "It's not Ginny." Gibbs felt a wave of relief come over him, but that was quickly followed by guilt and anger at himself. No, it was not Ginny, but the girl was still dead.

"I haven't seen a hanging in a while," Colonel Mann said dully, arriving at the scene with McGee, Ducky, and Jimmy.

"Boss, that's not - ?" asked McGee.

"It's not," Gibbs answered.

"Where's our message?" Colonel Mann asked, looking around the scene.

"The poor girl never bled, Colonel," Ducky said, looking more closely at the victim.

"Then how do you explain this, Ducky?" Tony asked from twenty feet away, pointing at the back of a greenhouse.

Gibbs walked over to Tony and looked at the blood on the wall.

_"I hope you said good-bye, Jethro! Guess who's next..."_

"Boss?" Tony asked after a minute.

Gibbs forced himself to turn away from the message and walked back over to the girl. "McGee! Find out who she is! DiNozzo, go tell Dumbledore! Colonel, get a head count!"

No one wanted to find out what would happen if Gibbs' orders were not heeded, and so the group quickly dispersed.

"Cut her down, Ducky!" Gibbs barked.

"I'm afraid I'll need a ladder, Jeth -"

As Ducky spoke, Gibbs threw his arms around a low branch and pulled himself up into the tree. He climbed out on the limb with the rope hanging from it and cut the twisted fibers with his pocket knife. Ducky and Jimmy caught the girl below and Gibbs jumped out of the tree.

"Time of death: approximately eleven to twelve hours ago," Ducky announced a few minutes later.

"Right after the fire," Gibbs said. He walked a quick circle aggressively. "Pack her up."

* * *

"How mad is he, McGee?"

"I didn't stick around to find out, Abby! Would you please get to work on this?" McGee asked, holding out an evidence bag to Abby.

"What'd the message say?" Abby asked as she set to work.

McGee pretended not to hear, though he had looked at Abby when she spoke.

"Tell me, Timmy, or I won't work!" Abby said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest.

McGee weighed his options for a moment, then finally came to the conclusion that Abby working was rather important. He pulled up the picture of the message he had hurriedly taken as he had left the scene.

Abby looked at the message in horror.

The lab doors slid open and Abby threw herself at Gibbs. "Don't let him kill Ziva, Gibbs!"

Gibbs pulled out of the hug abruptly and hovered over McGee's shoulder.

"Working on finding out her name, Boss," McGee said, his voice full of tension. He began typing rapidly. Moments later the dead girl's face appeared on the screen, though in the picture she was smiling and emotions shone brightly in her eyes. "Ashley Mercent. Second year. Muggleborn."

"Then aren't we missing someone?" Abby asked nervously.

"Padma Patil," Colonel Mann said, striding into the room. "She's the only person unaccounted for."

McGee quickly pulled up the girl's photo. Her file listed her as half-blood. Her appearance, however, was far more disturbing. She had long, dark hair, deep brown eyes, and darker skin.

"No!" The word escaped Gibbs as he took in the Padma's appearance.

With trembling hands, McGee put the pictures of Ashely and Ginny, Padma and Ziva next to each other.

"Hey, Boss - Damn!" Tony said, looking at the scarily similar pictures.

"We've got to find Padma Patil," Colonel Mann stated.

"Gear, partners, now!" Gibbs ordered as he turned on his heel and stormed out of the lab.

* * *

Gibbs, McGonagall, Colonel Mann, Snape, Tony, Charlie, McGee, and Bill, who had taken over for Professor Sprout, all gathered on the grounds.

"Holly, Tony, McGee, channel four," Gibbs said, adjusting his walkie-talkie. "Our goal is to find Padma," he said to the group.

"What about Ginny?" Charlie said angrily.

"She's with Ziva," Gibbs said. "Padma is alone. If she's alive, we want to find her quickly."

"If?" Bill asked.

"One dead already today," Gibbs said. "Why kill one and leave another? Check-in in thirty minutes. If I don't hear from any teams, we all pull out."

"Boss," Tony said uneasily, pointing to a spot in the sky.

Gibbs turned and followed Tony's finger to see smoke rising into the sky above the forest.

"Change of plans," Gibbs said after a moment. "DiNozzo, take McGonagall." He began heading to the forest by himself.

Tony, McGee, and Colonel Mann exchanged meaningful glances with each other. "Jethro!" Colonel Mann shouted and began running after Gibbs.

"I will call you when I know what's going on, Holly," Gibbs said irritably.

Colonel Mann grabbed Gibbs shoulder and forced him to turn around. "You can't go in by yourself!"

Gibbs pushed Colonel Mann's hands off his shoulders.

"You're hiding a limp. You keep losing your balance. Your back's completely screwed up. What makes you think - "

"Ziva doesn't remember her name. She won't remember anyone else's. If Ziva feels threatened, she will eliminate whatever is threatening her. I'm going _alone_. Don't come until I give the all clear." Gibbs turned and disappeared into the forest.

Colonel Mann walked back over to the group with heavy steps, head hung low.

"Who's following him?" Tony asked after a moment.

"You're down an arm," McGee pointed out.

"You couldn't be sneaky enough to follow Gibbs if you were on a carpet floor with no shoes on and he had ear plugs in, McGoo," Tony said through his teeth.

"Leave him," Snape said. "You tried, he resisted."

Tony sighed heavily. "He's going to turn off his radio. If you don't hear from me in," Tony looked at his watch, "two hours, meet back here."

"Tony," McGee whispered to Tony as the group made their way to the forest, "Boss is in bad shape. What if he doesn't make it out?"

"He's going to be fine, McGee! Alright?" Tony snapped.

McGee sighed heavily. Once out of sight of Tony, he flipped open his phone and his fingers slid over Ducky's familiar number.

* * *

Gibbs crept along, ghosting quite efficiently. He was focused. Finding the source of the smoke was his goal.

The smell of smoke filled Gibbs' nostrils. He clicked off his radio and proceeded with caution. He was getting closer and with it, more anxious. How could he know what this fire was to bring?

Gibbs looked into a clearing and was immediately able to see he had found what he wanted. He recognized Padma Patil hanging in the middle of the clearing and saw a fire burning near by. He knew he was encountering a set up. Who had made it, he did not know. He became certain of one thing as he examined the scene carefully. One wrong movement would definitely bring him much pain and a slow enough death to be interrogated. Oddly enough, all the booby traps set were tied with hairs instead of the usual rope; improvised, and quickly.

Watching his step with very much care, Gibbs began moving forward. He counted the number of traps he stepped over. One, two, three, four traps.

After Gibbs stepped over the fifth strand, he began hearing sinister whooshing through the trees. He looked up at the canopy above. "Ziva?" he quietly asked after a moment.

The gap between the sound of the rustling of the trees grew shorter and with it, louder. Gibbs did his best to keep up with the noise and was grateful for it a moment later as a rock flew at him. He dodge the rock and continued turning with the sounds of someone swinging through the trees.

"Ziva!" Gibbs said more loudly land before. The noise of the trees stopped and an eerie silence settled over the clearing. The lack of noise made Gibbs feel as if it were just him and the dead girl, but his mind told him to keep on his toes; someone else was out there, and it was time to make them reveal themselves.

"Come out!" Gibbs shouted. He pulled his knife out of his pocket and flicked it open, taking a threatening stance. "Come out and fight, or the girl you're hiding in that oak tree isn't going to wake up from that nap you've obviously drugged her for." He waited, and was rewarded.

From the trees fell a thin, sickly creature with dark matted hair. It was covered with what looked like rags. As it straightened it showed it's face to Gibbs. The creature's eyes were hard, dark, and cold, and it's face was smeared with much dirt and even some blood. Gibbs only recognized the Mossad Officer by what was left of the pattern of her shirt and the shape of her face.

"Ziva?" Gibbs asked the savage looking woman before him.

The woman began snapping viciously in a language Gibbs recognized to be Arabic.

"I'm your friend, Ziva," Gibbs said soothingly, stepping to the side as the woman did. He put his knife back in his pocket.

The deranged Israeli began threatening in Hebrew. Suddenly, she threw a blade at Gibbs with scary accuracy.

Gibbs barely twisted out of the way of the knife. "Ziva! You helped me remember, let me return the favor!"

"Who are you?" the woman asked, finally getting around to English. Gibbs noticed she already had another knife in her hand.

"You work with me."

"I work with no one!" the woman snarled.

"You work with me by way of Mossad. You were sent to us by your father, Eli David." Gibbs waited and saw gears begin to turn behind the woman's wild eyes.

"Who are you? What business have you here? Who sent you?" The woman snapped back to her previous state, blocking out Gibbs' advances.

"You sent me," Gibbs said. The woman scoffed at him, and he saw the tension in her thin muscles as she prepared to make another attack. He prepared to move once more, but his back objected to the force he had begun to apply. He knew he was running short on time. "You had a half-brother named Ari. He killed one of my agents. When he went after me, you stopped him. That's how we know each other."

"Ari?" the woman queried. The name struck a chord. The viciousness in her eyes flashed in and out.

"Ari." Gibbs repeated.

"Her name was Kate," the woman said slowly.

"Special Agent Caitlyn Todd."

"He shot her in the head. He went after you!"

Gibbs nodded and waited apprehensively as the woman's memory began to return. Had her head not been attached to her neck, it would have literally been spinning.

"We are at Hogwarts!" the woman exclaimed. "We are tracking a serial killer! I am Ziva!"

"Yes, you are," Gibbs confirmed.

"Gibbs!" Ziva shouted. She dropped her knife and ran at him, throwing her arms around his neck.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Safe and Not Sound

Are you all happy? I didn't kill her off. You can stop threatening me now. :P

Review?


	57. Safe and Not Sound

**Safe and Not Sound**

_"Ziva has been found! Ziva is alive!"_

Joy surged through Tony as he heard Gibbs' voice over the radio. "Ziva!" he turned excitedly to Charlie Weasley and Professor McGonagall. "We found her! We found Ziva!"

"What about Ginny?" Charlie immediately asked.

"Ziva wouldn't have left Ginny! If Ziva's found, so is Ginny!" Tony said. He pushed a button on the walkie-talkie and began galloping forward. "I'm coming, Boss!"

_"Watch it when you do! Ziva rigged the clearing."_

_"Ziva! Say something!" _McGee's voice said.

_"Get over here and you can see her, McGee!"_ Gibbs snapped.

Tony stopped paying attention to the radio as he leapt over logs and ducked under branches, Charlie right on his heels and McGonagall not far behind. Tony put more energy into moving his muscles as he saw fire burning in a clearing ahead.

"DiNozzo! Slow down!" shouted Gibbs, though he remained unseen.

"What am I watching out for, Boss?" Tony said hurriedly, eager to see his coworker.

"Unicorn hairs," Gibbs answered.

Tony looked at Charlie confusedly. "You want to help me out, here?"

Charlie took lead, carefully placing his feet so as to not set off any of the delicate traps. Finally, the patrol group was within the clearing.

Tony looked around and saw Gibbs sitting against a tree, holding a woman with shaking shoulders wearing his NCIS jacket his arms. "Ziva!" Tony exclaimed. He ran toward them without a thought and suddenly found himself caught in a net of vines and being hoisted into the air. Instead of yelling or making a sarcastic comment as he usually would, Tony called out, "Oh! Hey! I found Ginny, Charlie! She's a heavy sleeper."

"Ginny!" Charlie shouted.

Tony began swinging himself in his net until he was able to get a firm grip on a branch. That being done, be pulled out his knife and began hacking away at the greenery wrapped around him. "Let's not tell Dr. Mallard I'm doing this, shall we?" he suggested as the sling around his arm fell to the ground.

"Tony!" McGee shouted a short distance away.

"McGee! No!" Tony yelled, too late.

McGee set his foot down. Things seemed to go into slow motion as a sharpened block of wood descended out of the trees and headed straight toward McGee's stomach. Bill Weasley pulled McGee back in a nick of time.

"There are four more, McClose-call!" Tony snapped as he began hacking away once more. Finally, he split the right vine and his net fell off of him. He pulled the rest of his weight into the tree and disappeared in its leaves.

"Ziva," Gibbs said quietly as attention was focused on helping Tony get Ginny out of the perch in the tree she had been set on. "It's time to get up."

Ziva nodded as she sniffed loudly and quickly wiped her face off on the backs of her mud covered hands. Gibbs stood and helped the Israeli to her feet.

"Oh my God, Ziva!" McGee said with disbelief, looking at his coworker. He smiled broadly.

Ziva hugged McGee as tightly as she could.

"Boss, it'll be dark by the time we reach the edge of the forest. We're good to go," Tony said, coming over to the group.

Ziva let go of McGee and looked at Tony. "Who would have guessed I would ever be happy to see you, Tony?" She hugged him, as well.

"Well, I'm a missable person, Ziva!" Tony said, returning the hug. He gradually realized he was holding more and more of Ziva's weight. He looked at Gibbs with a slight amount of panic.

"Let's get back!" Gibbs said loudly. "Colonel Mann and Snape will take care of Miss Patil. You've got Ginny, Charlie?"

Charlie nodded and, with his brother's help, slung his little sister onto his back.

Without speaking, Tony took hold of one of Ziva's arms and held it over his shoulder, McGee did the same and between the two of them they began carrying Ziva back out of the forest. They had only taken two steps when Ziva stopped them. "I can walk myself!" she objected.

Tony was about to begin arguing when Gibbs started to speak. "DiNozzo, McGee, run ahead and tell anyone who needs to know who we've found."

"Who's going to get Ziva back, then?" Tony asked.

As an answer, Gibbs took Ziva's arm and pulled it over his shoulder. "Go."

"Boss! You're - "

"I said _go_, DiNozzo!" Gibbs growled.

"Ducky's gonna kill us," Tony said to McGee as they headed off.

Ziva stood on her own with her knees locked. "I am ready to go."

"Lead the way," Gibbs offered.

Ziva managed to take a few steps before her legs failed her. Gibbs caught Ziva before she fell and helped her carry her weight as they continued on their journey.

* * *

"Where is she?" Abby hissed impatiently.

"She's coming, Abby," McGee tried to say smoothly.

"I bet she looks horrible!" Abby said.

"She doesn't look like the Ziva we're used to," McGee admitted.

"Oh my gosh! Do you know how long she was gone? We've been without Ziva for like... a week! Where is she?"

"Have you finished processing all we gave you this morning, Abby?" Tony asked.

Abby glared at Tony. "DiNozzo, all that evidence can burn! Ziva's coming home!" Abby suddenly gasped. "I need to decorate her desk!"

"I doubt she's going to feel up to working, Abby," Jenny said, descending the stairs. "As a matter of fact, she's not allowed to work."

Abby sat at Ziva's desk and began fidgeting with things, unable to keep still.

Someone kicked the door to the Room of Requirement several times. Abby was up and at the door in an instant. "Ziva!" she squealed.

"Shush!" Gibbs reprimanded, carrying a sleeping Ziva.

Abby couldn't resist. She wrapped her arms around Ziva's neck.

Ziva rolled her eyes open and looked about dazedly. "Abby," she said hoarsely, though pleased.

"Ziva! You're home! You're home! Oh my gosh! You've missed a -"

"Abby!" Gibbs cut in. "Where's Ducky?"

"Getting ready for Ziva!"

"Go get him. DiNozzo, make sure Dumbledore knows. McGee, get a chair."

McGee pulled up a comfortable chair and Gibbs set Ziva into it. McGee then sat at his desk, knowing Gibbs would snap at him for hanging over Ziva's shoulder.

"You're going to get cleaned up and get some food. Then you're going to sleep," Gibbs told Ziva quietly.

"I want to work," Ziva said.

"You're not working, Ziva," Jenny said firmly.

Ziva did not put up any further fighting. She was too tired.

Ducky burst out of the morgue and rushed over to Ziva, closely followed by Jimmy. "Oh, my dear Ziva! You've been away from us for far too long!" Ducky said as he took in Ziva's incredibly sickly appearance. He did not hesitate setting to work.

After checking Ziva's pulse, eyes, ears, and a few other immediate things, Ducky stood up. "I'll do a more thorough examination after you've cleaned up, my dear. Abby, you'll have to help Officer David with her hair." He began walking back to his morgue. As he passed Abby he whispered, "Be gentle. I can hardly see the wounds she's got."

Abby bit her lip briefly, but then jumped over to Ziva's side. "Come on!"

"Let me sleep, first," Ziva requested, putting her head into her hand.

"No," Gibbs argued, beginning to pull Ziva up. "Get cleaned up."

"Gibbs," Ziva whined.

Gibbs did not say anything more, merely helped Ziva out of her chair the rest of the way and watched Abby lead her away.

Ducky came back out of his morgue just as Abby and Ziva disappeared.

"Well, Ducky?" Jenny asked.

"I think we're very fortunate to have found her when we did," Ducky said. "Another day or two and she would have been gone."

* * *

Ziva was escorted into the bull pen by Gibbs to discover that all the desks had been pushed against a wall and a large table sat in the room. "No," she said, slowly shaking her head. "I want to work."

"I thought you wanted to sleep," Gibbs said.

"Work," Ziva stated.

"Eat, sleep, and then we can discuss working," Gibbs gently suggested, helping Ziva into a chair.

Ziva groaned and put her head down on the table.

Abby danced into the room and sat herself beside Ziva. Abby hugged Ziva, bringing an involuntary yelp from the Israeli.

Ziva leaned up and rubbed her ribcage.

"Oh my gosh! Ziva, I'm sorry!" Abby said hurriedly.

"It's alright, Abby."

"No, it's not! I can't hug you!"

Ziva smiled weakly. "Just give me warning before you do."

Tony and McGee came into the room. "Ziva David! You're awake!" Tony exclaimed. He jumped up onto the table and sat in front of Ziva. "How's everyone's favorite Israeli enjoying being back?"

"I will enjoy myself much more after sleeping, DiNozzo," Ziva said with some amount of her usual snap.

"I think you should start looking forward to dinner, Officer David! It smells delicious."

"I smell nothing," Ziva said.

"It's coming," Tony said with a joyous smile. "Just wait!"

"Glad to have you back, Ziva," McGee truthfully told Ziva.

"I am glad to be back, McGee," Ziva informed, smiling.

The door to the Room of Requirement opened and a pair of identical red headed humans walked through them, each carrying a plate. "The feast has arrived!" said one of the twins.

"Fred! Mind holding the door?" asked a voice irritatedly.

"Stop being so grumpy, Ronnikins! This isn't the time!" said Fred.

"Yeah, just because you lost a few inches of hair in that fire doesn't give you the right - " George was cut off by his little brother.

"Shut up, you!" Ron snapped.

"Stop your fighting!" said the voice of Mrs. Weasley. "Come on! In you go!"

Moments later, the rest of the Weasley clan plus Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were bustling about the large table setting down enormous plates of food.

"What is this?" Ziva asked after a moment.

Mrs. Weasley took notice of Ziva and sat down in the seat next to her. Mrs. Weasley grabbed the Israeli's face and looked the woman straight in the eye. "You kept my daughter alive. For that I cannot thank you enough." Mrs. Weasley embraced Ziva in a hug that the latter was too surprised to return.

Eventually, Mrs. Weasley released Ziva, but did not move. Instead, she began piling food on a plate Ziva had not seen been put in front of her.

Ziva looked back at Gibbs confusedly.

Gibbs leaned towad Ziva and spoke quietly. "Mrs. Weasley insisted on making you dinner."

"Why?"

"She told you why."

"I am -"

"Just eat, Ziva. You can go to bed after that." Gibbs kissed Ziva on the top of her head and left for MTAC.

"No you don't, Agent Gibbs!" Mrs. Weasley called, catching sight of the man trying to leave. "I made this food for all of you."

"I appreciate it, Mrs. Weasley," Gibbs said honestly, "but there are a couple of things that I have to take care of first." He turned and entered MTAC before anything further could be said.

"Well, Officer David," said Bill Weasley as he passed a dish full of potatoes to his right, "tell us the story."

_"There is nothing to tell,"_ Ziva said.

The Weasleys all looked at Ziva in confusion.

"English, Ziva," Tony said after a moment.

_"I am speaking English, Tony!"_ Ziva said slowly.

"What do you think that is, McGoo?" Tony asked the man sitting next to him.

"Arabic? Hebrew? Russian?" McGee said, looking at Ziva.

"Italian? French?" Tony suggested. "What else have you got up your sleeve, Zee-vah?"

Ziva glared at Tony and McGee before looking at Bill and trying to answer once more. _"There is nothing to tell."_

"German," Fred said firmly.

"Polish!" George argued.

"Fred! George!" Mr. Weasley said with a warning tone.

Ziva cleared her throat and thought for a moment. "There is nothing to tell, Mr. Weasley." Tony and McGee applauded Ziva's success.

"Nothing to tell?" Fred exclaimed.

"We heard you stayed a night with centaurs!" George said.

"Fred! George!" Mrs. Weasley said with disapproval.

"We just want to know what happened, Mum!" Fred explained.

"Yeah, Ginny won't say anything," George complained, looking at his sister seated next to him. Ginny was unusually quiet.

"You already seem to know what happened," Ziva said. "Why ask more?"

"The devil's in the details, Officer David!" George said.

"The last thing we need is the devil showing up," Tony stated as he cut into a slab of meat on his plate.

"Anthony," Ducky said slowly, "why are you using your right arm?"

Tony cleared his throat. "Those pain meds, Ducky! Let me tell you, they work great!"

As Ducky began to give Tony a stern talking to, Mrs. Weasley looked at Ziva's plate. "Officer David! You haven't touched your food! You're so thin! Eat!"

"I am not very hungry, Mrs. Weasley," Ziva said politely. "Thank you."

"You don't lose as much weight as you did in the past week if you're eating, Ziva!" Abby said, gaining up with Mrs. Weasley. "Put food in your mouth before I do it for you!"

Ziva sighed, took a bite of food, and realized that she was, in fact, very hungry. The Israeli became a vacuum, quickly devouring the food on her plate.

"Whoah!" Abby exclaimed. She pulled Ziva's plate away. "You're going to get sick if you eat much more, Ziva!"

"I do not care!" Ziva objected, reaching for her plate.

"Sick is the last thing you need, Ziva!" Abby argued, beginning to have to fight to keep Ziva from grabbing more food.

Just as Ziva was really beginning to get out of hand, Gibbs came back downstairs. He laid his hand on Ziva's arm and pulled her out of her seat. "Come on. Sleep."

"No!" Ziva objected.

Gibbs pulled Ziva into a door in the wall. Before he closed the door he called over his shoulder, "He's waiting, Jen!"

Jenny sighed, pulled her napkin off her lap and slammed it on the table before standing. "Thank you for the dinner, Mrs. Weasley."

"Who's waiting, Director?" Tony asked.

"The Director of Mossad, DiNozzo," Jenny said with displeasure. She climbed the stairs and disappeared behind a door.

Abby suddenly jumped out of her seat. "I hear a ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!" She ran into her lab.

Tony looked around at those who were left at the table. "I don't care what happens, I'm finishing this food. It's delicious, Mrs. Weasley."

Mr. Weasley looked around the table. "Where's the blonde woman? What's her name? Mann?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Mann?" Tony asked. "She's got stuff she has to do."

As if called by some supernatural signal, Colonel Mann walked backwards into the room. Snape walked in a moment later. Between the two was a large black bag on a makeshift stretcher.

"For God's sake, Snape! Stop pushing!" Colonel Mann said exasperatedly, somehow failing to take notice of the scene around her.

"My apologies for trying to move quickly, Colonel," Snape said sarcastically.

"I'd rather get there slowly without dropping her. Is that alright with you?"

Ducky and Jimmy quickly popped out of their seats. "Colonel! Professor! Mr. Palmer and I will take it from here," Ducky offered, taking Colonel Mann's end of the stretcher.

"Thanks, Ducky," Colonel Mann said. She ripped her hat off her head and threw her coat, which had a questionable red smear on it, to the side. "You're good to leave, Professor," she said to Snape, grabbing a handkerchief out of her sleeve and wiping her red hands on it.

Snape left the room without saying anything further.

Colonel Mann shoved her stained handkerchief back up her sleeve and finally looked around the room. She was too upset to care about the Weasleys' presence. "Where's Gibbs?"

"With Ziva," McGee promptly answered.

"Damn," Colonel Mann sighed. She looked at Ginny, who had pushed herself against the back of her chair. "You're lucky," she said to the girl.

"Okay!" Tony said loudly, standing up as horror began to appear on the Weasleys' faces. "We really appreciate the meal, but we should get back to work."

"Right," Mr. Weasley said, clearly flustered. "We'll just leave the food here, Molly?"

"Certainly," Mrs. Weasley agreed. The Weasley family quickly packed up and left.

"What was that, Colonel?" Tony snapped the moment after the door had closed behind the last Weasley.

"That was the truth. We thought Ashely Mercent was what would happen to Ginny and Ziva. We were wrong. What he had in mind for Ginny and Ziva was what happened to Padma Patil. There are some truly sick people out there!" The Colonel left the room for MTAC.

Tony and McGee looked at each other for a moment before both rushing into Ducky's morgue.

* * *

Ziva exited her room and entered the bull pen. She looked at her coworkers gathered around the plasma staring at pictures of a girl hanging from a tree in the forest. Ziva walked quietly until she was right behind the three men. "Have we found anything yet?"

Gibbs, Tony, and McGee turned to look at Ziva.

"It's only been four hours. What are you doing up?" Gibbs asked.

"I am fine," Ziva said. "I want to work."

Gibbs looked at his watch. "Two hours. Then you're going back to sleep."

"Done," Ziva said with a nod. She sat down at her desk. "What have I missed?"

"That'd take your whole two hours to tell," McGee said.

"Then what do we have on that girl?"

"This girl," Tony said, pointing at the screen, "is Padma Patil. A half-blood third year from Ravenclaw."

"Have you called her family yet?" Ziva asked.

"Sent someone from the Ministry to her parents. Parvati, her sister, is awaiting their arrival up in Dumbledore's office," McGee answered.

Ziva suddenly went stiff as a board and sat down at her desk. "I am fine," she said in response to the looks she knew she was getting. "I just need to figure something out."

Ducky came out of the morgue, smiled at Ziva, and pulled Gibbs aside behind the staircase up to MTAC.

"Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"You saw the message he carved into her arm," Ducky said somberly.

_"The difference here is that she'll be alive through this all,"_ Gibbs easily quoted.

"That's it," Ducky confirmed. "Padma was suffocated. Everything else was done after her death."

"Everything else?" Gibbs asked.

"Beaten, stabbed, and raped, to put things simply."

Gibbs looked away briefly. His pupils had turned rather small.

"How did Ziva happen to find Miss Patil?" Ducky asked.

"I haven't asked her about it yet," said Gibbs.

"You need to soon. I fear what will happen when our killer discovers Ziva is safe and alive," Ducky said, his voice packed with worry.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Shot of Truth (very, very subject to change)

"Where does 'not sound' come in, alittleinsane? I don't get it!" Ziva keeps switching languages. She's a bit mixed up yet, hench the "not sound".

Wish me luck! I'm going to be driving children crazy for the next 72 hours! I'd love it if I hade a bunch of review alerts when I came back from annoying the children... Mind being a part of my joy?


	58. A Shot at a Break

**A Shot at a Break**

"Ziva!" a voice called gently.

Ziva groaned and turned over. "Go away," she muttered into her sheets.

"Ziva!" the voice said again. "We've all been asked to go to a staff meeting!"

The groggy Israeli blindly waved her hand about, as if trying to bat away whoever had woken her up.

"Officer David!" the voice was no longer gentle, but harsh and demanding. "Get up out of bed and do your job!"

Ziva snapped up and put her feet on the floor before looking up at Jenny's face.

"Good morning," Jenny greeted.

Ziva muttered something in Hebrew. Jenny decided she would rather not translate.

"Do you need help getting ready?"

"No," Ziva said shortly, stuffing her feet into her boots.

* * *

Minutes later, Ziva was out in the bull pen.

"No! No! I'm on the verge of a break!" Abby objected as McGee dragged her out of her lab.

Tony walked out of the lab after McGee and Abby. "You've been saying that for the past seven hours, Abby. Short break to see what the staff wants, okay? Then you can go back to work."

Gibbs came out of his room, pulling on his jacket as he went. He looked at his watch. 05:00. "Didn't we just get in an hour ago?"

"If you were lucky," Colonel Mann said sourly, loading her gun.

"I don't think we'll be needing arms, Colonel," Jenny said.

"If someone so much as tries to touch me, I think they'd rather get shot than any of the other things I have in mind." Colonel Mann rubbed her face and accepted the coffee Gibbs held out to her.

"How you feeling, Ziva?" Gibbs asked.

"Better," Ziva answered. "Where are we going?"

"Staff room. Professor Flitwick conveyed the message that we're wanted," Jenny said.

"I don't see why Ducky, Jimmy, and I have to go!" Abby whined, her arms crossed firmly over her chest. "We never have to go to these things in D.C.!" Abby's face suddenly brightened. "Ziva!" she shouted and ran at the Israeli.

Ziva accepted Abby's hug with an involuntary "_Oof!_"

Abby released Ziva and bounded to the door, now in an infinitely better mood than mere seconds ago.

Gibbs led the way through the halls, taking unusual routes so as to be followed less easily. Finally, the team entered the staff room and sat in the back.

"Alright, then! They're here, Minerva! Start!" Professor Sprout demanded.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Gibbs quietly asked Jenny.

"He's at the Ministry," Jenny whispered.

"We've been informed that Sirius Black was sighted in Hogsmeade," McGonagall said. Several gasps ensued, but she spoke over them, "Between the Aurors and dementors, the town was searched thoroughly. Black's disappeared once more, which is why you all have been called here. I know patrols only just ended, but they're starting now again. Someone needs to be at the gate and the entrance doors."

On a gut impulse, Ziva called across the room, "What does Sirius Black look like?"

Several of the teachers looked back at Ziva, many even did a double take seeing as she looked so different from the Officer David they had grown used to.

"His picture has been in almost every paper that's been printed since the summer, Officer David. But incase you've missed it," Snape said condescendingly, pointing at a poster on the wall, "there it is."

Ziva's eyes popped as she looked at the photograph of the man with long, black matted hair and hardly any meat on his body. "You are wrong," she said, standing up and taking a few steps toward the poster.

"I'm wrong?" Snape scoffed. "Do you mean to tell us that isn't Sirius Black, betrayer, supporter of the Dark Lord, and mass murderer?"

"This is not the man you should be looking for," Ziva said, still looking at the poster. "You have been mislead. He is innocent."

Muttering broke out among the staff. Snape's voice carried over it. "Just how hard was your head hit, Officer David? He's guilty! That's a fact."

"You are wrong!" Ziva snapped, finally turning to face the staff, a fire in her eyes. "He is not the man you should be looking for, and he is not after what you think, either!"

"Is that why he slithered into Hogwarts and tried to break into Gryffindor Tower?" Snape queried.

"He is not after Potter!"

"And what has made you come to this conclusion?" Snape asked with malice and interest.

"I met him!" Ziva said. The room suddenly filled with the sound of everyone asking Ziva questions. The Israeli took a step back in surprise and looked absolutely bewildered, not knowing who to address.

Gibbs stepped between Ziva and the staff. "Ziva, when did you meet him?" he asked lowly.

"He led me to the girl, Gibbs!" Ziva said.

"He led you to her because he killed her himself!" Snape spat.

"He did not!" Ziva said loudly, stepping around Gibbs, intent on arguing with Snape.

"What proof do you have to offer?"

"He is innocent!"

"He led you to the girl he killed in hopes of getting you to trust him so he could kill you and Miss Weasley with minimum struggle! That is how he works!" Snape said, his voice rising at an alarming rate.

"No!" Ziva argued, matching Snape's volume. "He had been following me for days! He easily could have killed me then!"

"Then he wanted to keep you alive so you could try to lull us into a false sense of security!"

"No!" Ziva shouted. "He is innocent! You are merely intent on seeing him suffer for the rest of his life because you cannot get over a school boy's grudge! I have done my research! I know your history with him and you need to let it go!"

Snape began to turn red in the face. "If you've done your research, than you've realized you identify with him, leading to your sympathy! Yes, I've done research of my own! You grew up in a family you hated and ran away from for a time. You would only be supported by your family in one career. You have family that have gone to the extremes of what you consider to be the enemy's side. You're biased!"

"You are making this personal, Professor!" Ziva said through tightly gritted teeth.

"Ten bucks on Ziva," Tony whispered to McGee.

"No bet," McGee said, his eyes moving rapidly between Ziva and Snape.

"I am stating my case in your lack of judgment, Officer David," Snape said with a curled lip.

"You, Snape, have always hated Black, just as you always hated James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. They formed something you never had: a happy family! They had people to care for them. You had that once upon a time as well, but you screwed it up and James picked up the pieces! You are so childish and prejudiced that you cannot contain it! You allow yourself to favor your own house and are extremely unfair to Gryffindor. Tell me: what does that say about your argument?

"I had been in that forest for _days_ carrying a twelve year old on my back! I had not eaten, and I had hardly slept! Had this man, whom you have declared guilty on one piece of evidence, not come to me, I would not have been able to get that girl back here! Yes, I trust him! Yes, I owe him, and rightly so! I tell you: you are looking for the wrong man!"

"He betrayed a man that considered him his best friend and then killed a dozen innocent people!"

"You talk about betrayal," Ziva scoffed. "You are just as guilty as he is!"

Snape was so enraged at the comment that he rose from his chair to be at eye level with Ziva.

"You, Snape, have betrayed! I have done my research! I have dug to the bottom! You cannot act as though you are innocent!" Ziva snapped.

"And you think you're more innocent than he or I?" Snape asked. "Perhaps you've been working with him this entire time! _You_ speak of betrayal, yet you killed your own brother!"

Ziva lost it as the staffroom burst into gasps and chatter. She threw her fist at Snape and felt his nose crush under her knuckles.

Gibbs lunged at Ziva as she went to make another attack at Snape. Arm around her waist, Gibbs pulled Ziva over to the wall with great difficulty as Snape wiped blood off his face and fixed his nose with a wave of his wand. Still struggling against Gibbs, Ziva began shouting at Snape in Hebrew, her eyes bright and wild.

"Ziva!" Gibbs said. "Ziva!" He grabbed her shoulders and angled her away from Snape. "Ziva!"

Ziva's eyes began to burn and her vision blurred. She refused to acknowledge the strange sensation and looked Gibbs straight in the face, head held high.

"Breathe," Gibbs requested.

"_No!" _Ziva argued in Russian. _"I want his head!"_

"Don't get yourself into more trouble than you are now, Ziva," Gibbs said quietly. "This isn't going to be kept quiet! Do you understand?"

Ziva could easily see Gibbs was filled with a mixture of anger and worry. "I understand," she said.

"Tony!" Gibbs called over the low rumble, "Take her back."

Tony popped out of his seat and held the door open for Ziva.

Ziva stormed out the door and mindlessly began the way back to the Room of Requirement.

"Ziva," Tony said slowly. "I have to ask. Did you really kill Ari?"

"What does it matter if I did?" Ziva asked defensively. "He is dead, by whose doing does not matter. Agent Todd was avenged and a rogue Mossad officer dealt with."

"It matters a hell of a lot, Ziva!" Tony argued. "You lied to us all this time!"

"I am not the only one who lied, Tony," Ziva stated.

Tony stopped dead in his tracks as the meaning of Ziva's comment hit him full force.

* * *

After keeping patrol until classes began, Gibbs, McGee, Jenny, Tony, and Colonel Mann trudged back into the Room of Requirement.

"Abby," Gibbs said to the Goth sitting at Ziva's desk.

Abby popped out of Ziva's chair. "No, I did not drug Ziva to make her stop working and go to sleep! Why would you even think that?" She scurried back into her lab, keeping her eyes on the ground the entire way.

Jenny quickly headed up to MTAC and everyone else to their desks.

"When we find this kid, I say we kill him. Screw the law," Tony said sourly, shoving his gun into a drawer and kicking it shut. "Black's head on a platter wouldn't hurt either."

"Ziva said Black isn't the guy we should be looking for," McGee reminded.

"Whether it's Black or not, he's not ours to catch," Gibbs said.

"Do you believe her? Think Black's innocent? Think Ziva's telling the truth?" Tony asked his boss.

"Innocent or not, he saved Ziva and Ginny," Gibbs stated.

"Two lives for the fourteen he's taken," Colonel Mann said darkly. "Hardly seems like a fair trade."

Gibbs looked down to see yellow pin pricks under his desk. Reaching down, he pulled an orange cat with a squished, ugly face and a bottle brush tail out.

Tony's lip twitched. "I hate cats. Who let that thing in?"

As if it knew Tony hated it, the cat strutted over to Tony and began winding itself around his legs.

"Get out of here!" Tony exclaimed, kicking the cat away from him. "I don't need your fur all over my suit!"

The cat glared at Tony briefly before jumping up on Ziva's chair and settling down for a nap.

"Ziva!" Abby's voice floated out of her lab into the bull pen.

Gibbs got up out of his chair and went through the sliding doors to find out what the problem was.

Ziva leaned against a wall of Abby's lab, arms crossed over her chest, looking rather pleased with herself. Abby stood by her computer, fists at her side and an angry expression on her face.

"She's supposed to be asleep for another six hours!" Abby exclaimed, pointing at Ziva.

"It is impolite to point, Abby," Ziva said calmly. "It is also impolite to drug your colleague. I tasted it and dumped the rest of the tea into the plant pot when you were not looking."

Abby stomped her foot. "Gibbs!"'

Gibbs beckoned Ziva to follow him and lead the way back out to the bull pen.

Ziva smiled at the cat sitting on her chair. She picked it up gently, sat down, and put the cat on her lap. The creature did not mind at all and quickly fell back to sleep.

"Why does it not annoy you?" Tony asked sourly.

"You would not believe me if I told you, DiNozzo," Ziva said, leaning back in her chair and stroking the beast's orange fur.

"You're probably right," Tony said, his jaw set into an odd position. "I don't know if I'd believe you."

"I win!" Abby's voice could be heard from the bull pen once more. "I win! I win! I win!" Abby galloped out of her lab, into the morgue, and out into the bull pen with Ducky and Jimmy at her heels. "I win!"

"Abbs! What have you got?" Gibbs asked, getting up and grabbing Abby's shoulders to keep her from jumping so much.

Abby held up the needle that had once been full of dragon pox and rigged to Jenny's chair. "Do you know what this is?"

"A needle," Gibbs said slowly.

"It's not just any needle, Gibbs! It's an insulin needle! Our culprit is, or someone close to them is, diabetic."

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - She?

I apologize for updating off schedule, but last weekend was kind of an important time. I stayed away from the computer.

Now, tell me! What did you think of the chapter? Review, please.


	59. She?

**She?**

Professor McGonagall was angrier with the NCIS team than she had been in a long while. Not only had they checked every student's pockets as they entered the great hall without any sort of explanation, but the team had disappeared.

The teacher stormed into the Room of Requirement and was met with the sight of Ziva David sitting on the floor next to a mountain of files. She kept her distance.

"Abby!" Ziva shouted. "What am I looking for?"

"Just take out all the ones with brown or black hair, Ziva!" Abby said, coming out of her lab with another armful of files.

"Why are we not using a computer?"

"Because Abby's jumpy! And when Abby's jumpy, Abby needs something to hold! Besides, Gibbs doesn't trust computers. He'll want hard paper copies for this one," Abby said, setting down her stack of files. "Hi, Professor!"

"Miss Scuito," McGonagall said slowly.

"Director Sheppard has been expecting you," Ziva said to the teacher. "She is upstairs." The Israeli's stomach growled loudly. "Abby! Food!"

"You just ate yourself almost sick fifteen minutes ago!" Abby argued. "You haven't been drinking enough water! Go grab another bottle!"

Professor McGonagall stepped away from the fight beginning and climbed the stairs. The door to the director's office was open.

"How long have you been out?" Ducky's voice asked.

"I'm fine, Ducky!" Jenny snapped from out of sight. A moment later there was the sound of shattering glass and Jenny muttering curses under her breath.

"You can't even make a fist! I'm calling to have your prescription refilled!"

"No one is supposed to know we're here, Ducky!" Jenny argued.

"No one is supposed to know we are at Hogwarts, specifically! Everyone already knows we're out of the country!"

"Wrong! I know for a fact half the office back in D.C. thinks we're in California working with Callen on something."

"Your cancer has been progressing too quickly from the beginning! The stress and your battle with dragon pox have not helped! I'm getting this prescription refilled while you can still take it without me having to push it down your throat for you!"

Professor McGonagall finally made it to the door to see Jenny and Ducky staring murderously at each other across a table with a shattered glass on it. She knocked on the door frame.

"Professor!" Jenny greeted, quickly putting herself into a different demeanor. "I suppose you're here to ask about the search Gibbs, Tony, McGee, and Colonel Mann made this morning."

"I am," McGonagall said coldly. "I was also asked to give you these, from Minister Fudge." McGonagall held out a small stack of letters.

"Thanks." Jenny reached out with both her hands. Professor McGonagall noticed as she placed the letters into the Director's hands that they were shaking slightly. After a moment Jenny closed one hand around the stack and let her other fall to her side. As the Director made to put the stack of paper on the table, her hand suddenly twitched and the letters fluttered to the floor.

"I am getting that prescription refilled!" Ducky said firmly. His feet fell heavily on the floor as he walked out.

Jenny put her trembling hand to her forehead briefly before taking a deep breath and regaining control of herself as well as she could. "You were asking about the search?"

"I was," McGonagall said, though distractedly. "Do you need your healer from St. Mungo's contacted?"

"I'm fine," Jenny said moodily. "Doctor Mallard is just over reacting."

"Doctor Mallard doesn't seem to be the type to - "

"Would you like to continue to talk about my personal issue or find out what's going on with your students, Professor?" Jenny asked waspishly. She took another deep breath. "I will hopefully be able to explain the search in a few days, but as of now, I'd try to push it to the back of your mind. No one was hurt and, with luck, no one will have to be."

"What did you find?" McGonagall asked rather eagerly.

Jenny suddenly reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone, and looked skyward. "We've found something that can't be shared right now, Professor. I'd appreciate it if you kept quiet about it." Jenny went to flip her phone open, but dropped it instead. She breathed through her teeth, tried to snatch up her phone, failed, and kicked the ringing device ahead of her into MTAC. "Damn loss of motor skills."

Furious about her question left unanswered, though distracted by the conversation she had over heard, Professor McGonagall headed back down into the paper-ridden bull pen to see Officer David with her forehead against the wall, phone to her face.

"Daddy David finally got a hold of Ziva," Abby offered explanation from the floor. "Why are there so many blondes here?" she fumed suddenly, throwing a file in her hand off to the side.

"I hate it when he does this," Ziva sighed, turning to look at Abby, the receiver in her phone away from her mouth. "He is so angry that he keeps switching languages and I am having trouble keeping up!"

"He's worried, Ziva!" Abby said. "There was this one time when I was nine, I went out for a bike ride and got lost for over an hour. Boy, did I get it when I got home!"

"He is not worried, Abby! He is angry!" Ziva hissed. "I 'let my guard down' and 'allowed myself to be bested'!" Ziva paused for a moment to listen to her father's ranting. "Now I am a 'disgrace'."

"If I weren't completely terrified of your dad, I'd tell him to shut up."

"No!" Ziva exclaimed. "Polish! I do not speak Polish!" Her knuckles were white against her phone and her free hand had made a fist.

Professor McGonagall turned toward Abby. "What has thrown you all into such a flurry?"

Abby looked up from the papers before her. "Um... I was told not to say anything." She pretended to zip her lips, lock them, and throw away the key.

"I believe, Miss Scuito, that the Hogwarts staff should know," McGonagall said, trying hard to keep her temper.

Abby thought a moment, and then started moving her hands rapidly through the air.

Professor McGonagall recognized Abby's odd movements as sign language and turned on her heel to leave the room just as Ziva began shouting at her phone in Hebrew.

* * *

She waited. He would be coming, of that much she was certain. She really hated waiting, it was not her forte. To keep her mind occupied, she began cleaning up after his latest outburst.

The door swung open and shut. "Damn!" he said, throwing a roll of parchment to the ground. "I can't find them!"

"That's because they left!" she snapped. "You screwed up somewhere! I heard one of them say they were going to the Muggle Ministry for _records!_"

"I didn't screw up anywhere! You're the one that's gotten yourself seen!" he snarled.

"Yeah, per your request! I got Davies for you. I got Cedric for you, and you said you'd take care of it! Now we can't finish the job!" She snatched up the parchment on the floor, not wanting her recent cleaning to go to waste so quickly.

"Wait for the opportune moment," he said

"I'm tired of waiting! Just kill them and be done!"

"I can't get them all at once."

"Well I'm not making you any more potions. You've already tried getting them separately and failed! Get them all!"

His disgustingly joyous grin spread slowly over his face. "What if we caught the obnoxious one off his guard?"

"Good luck with that. Can't-get-a-good-haircut guy is practically stalking them all now. If he's not with them, he's on the phone with them."

"I don't need that long to take care of him. I just need him to be _vulnerable_."

She smiled coyly. "I can do vulnerable."

He looked at his watch. "Four hours, trophy room. I'll be waiting."

She looked in the smashed mirror, adjusting her loose blonde curls before leaving.

* * *

Gibbs stomped his feet on the massive rug in the entrance hall, knocking the freshly fallen snow off his boots.

"Whew! It's cold outside!" Tony commented, stepping inside and shaking his head like a dog.

"Sure, don't hold the door for me, Tony!" McGee snapped with a stuffed nose, a briefcase in each hand.

"Let's not have more arguing, boys," Colonel Mann said, ripping gloves off her hands.

"He started it!" Tony accused, pointing a finger at McGee.

"All I tried to do was get you to take one of these, Tony!"

Tony gestured to his right arm in a sling. "No can do, Probie."

"DiNozzo!"

"Yeah, Boss?"

"Shut up," Gibbs ordered.

"Right. Shutting up, Boss," Tony said.

"Agent Gibbs!" called a familiar voice.

Gibbs sighed heavily and turned to look at Professor McGonagall coming toward him.

"Would you care to explain why you are keeping us in the dark?" McGonagall asked.

"No one's above suspicion, Professor," Gibbs said simply.

Professor McGonagall took a deep breath. "In the future would you care to at least inform someone of when you are leaving the school and where you are going?"

"Ministry knows," Gibbs informed. "McGee, get those to Abby. Go through them all. Tony, go with him. Holly, think Madame Pince has closed up shop?"

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind opening the doors back up," Colonel Mann said in an unconcerned monotone as Tony and McGee quickly left sight.

"Starting to harass the staff again, are you?" McGonagall said icily.

"Harass?" Gibbs questioned. "Do we harass, Colonel?"

"Only when asking nicely doesn't work," Colonel Mann said in the same tone as before.

"Library's to the left, fourth floor, right?" Gibbs asked McGonagall, heading off with Colonel Mann in toe.

"Having fun, Jethro?" Colonel Mann asked halfway up the staircase, out of ear shot of Professor McGonagall.

"Oh yeah," Gibbs said with a smirk.

* * *

"Are you serious?" Ziva asked as Tony slammed a briefcase onto her desk.

"Quite serious, Officer David," Tony confirmed. "And they want all of these back within twenty-four hours."

"Then you are helping me copy them all!" Ziva snapped.

"Copying these is a serious crime, David," Tony argued through clenched teeth. "Clock's ticking!"

"You could help me anyway, you know!"

"Sorry, down an arm!" Tony said annoyingly, gesturing to his right arm in a sling.

"Really?" Ziva queried. "You were using it quite efficiently at dinner."

"I was on a lot more pain meds at dinner."

"You are lying!"

"You started it!" Tony snarled. He turned and left for MTAC.

* * *

Tony walked into Abby's lab after checking in with Jenny, feeling very tired and looking to be cheered up.

"Stop being mean to Ziva!" Abby snapped, standing a few feet behind the door as if she had been waiting, arms crossed.

"What?" Tony asked, quite surprised.

"You're being mean to Ziva! Stop it!"

"She's been lying to us ever since she came here, Abby!" Tony argued.

"Gibbs lied about it too!" Abby said loudly. "We're all going to keep lying about it! Yeah, Ziva killed Ari. He would have been killed anyway! And do you honestly think she would have wanted to kill him? I talked to her, rather than just being an ass about it. She saved Gibbs!

"Stop making her feel like crap! The last thing we need right now is the team falling apart!"

The two stared angrily at each other for another moment before Abby could no longer resist hugging Tony.

"Thanks, Abby," Tony said into her shoulder.

Abby pulled out of the hug. "You're welcome, Tony! Now go help."

Tony walked into the bull pen, over to where Ziva had begun stacking files in the fashion of organized chaos. "You want me to take some of those?" he offered.

Ziva looked up at Tony, then threw some files at him which he caught with both hands. She smiled and let out a chuckle. "I knew it!"

* * *

"What have you got for me, Abbs?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, the staff isn't happy with you, particularly your patrol partner," Abby informed, still typing away.

"Not a huge concern of mine, Abby."

"What I've got for you is a puzzle. One of the hairs Tony picked up on Ziva's trail was blonde, not Ziva's or Ginny's. The root was still in tact, so I was able to get DNA. I ran it, just for the heck of it, but I actually got a match!" Abby pulled up the positive match on the computer, then clicked a name.

"Meet Madeline Morgan, seventh year Ravenclaw, Muggle born. Now, as a Ravenclaw I'm sure she's a hard-worker during the school year. But during the summer she's a working girl. Arrested three times on the charge of prostitution." Abby scoffed and put her weight onto one leg. "It's really sad. I mean, she's only seventeen. Look at her! She could easily find a better way to make money!"

"You saying she's the one we should have been after all this time?" Gibbs asked, quite confused.

"That's where the puzzle comes in. Violent murders are committed by women, though it's kind of rare. Something that a woman can't do is rape another woman, and we know that Lavender Brown was. So what part does Madeline play?"

"She plays," Gibbs answered. "That is her job. That's how they got Davies out of the castle so early in the morning in his school robes."

"Nasty little thing, aren't you?" Abby asked the picture of the girl with blonde curls on her screen.

* * *

"Grab your gear!" Gibbs barked.

"Where are we going, Boss?" McGee asked as he strapped his gun to his side.

"We're making an arrest, Agent McGee!" Gibbs said with a pleased smirk. "You're taking the interview, DiNozzo. I don't want her seeing you. Stay here with Ziva."

"Her?" Tony asked in bewilderment as Gibbs, McGee, and Colonel Mann left the room. "Our killer's a her?" he asked Ziva.

The two looked at each other for a moment before racing into Abby's.

* * *

"McGee, stay twenty paces behind," Gibbs ordered. "We are not screwing this up."

McGee stopped and waited for Gibbs and Colonel Mann to get a head start.

"How'd we figure this one out?" Colonel Mann asked in hushed tones.

"She doesn't braid her hair like you do when she goes into a wooded area," Gibbs said.

"Idiot," Colonel Mann scoffed.

"Fortunate for us," Gibbs stated. "Abby should have sent the information to your phone."

Colonel Mann stopped briefly to pull her phone out of her boot. "Yup. She probably could have gotten any guy she wanted out of their dorm. Why are you having DiNozzo take the interview?"

"DiNozzo can handle himself, Colonel. If they've done their research…"

"She'll try to nab him," Colonel Mann said, realization dawning upon her. She looked over at Gibbs with a raised eyebrow. "None of the professors know about this latest scheme you've hatched, do they?"

"Ah," Gibbs said, waving his hand. "What harm are we doing?"

"Oh yeah, 'What harm'!" Colonel Mann said, somewhat amused. "We've only brought on half the attacks made."

"Small matters, Colonel."

Colonel Mann pointed at an intersection of halls a ways ahead where an attractive girl with long, blonde curls was visible as she walked a perpendicular path to the agents. "See her?"

"McGee!" Gibbs called quietly, turning around.

"Yeah, Boss?" McGee asked, coming around a corner.

"She's heading toward the Transfiguration Wing. You find another way there and block it," Gibbs commanded.

"On it!" McGee said with determination, hurrying off.

"Allowing your agent to go off on his own, Jethro?" Colonel Mann queried.

"He's not hunting now," Gibbs said with a smug certainty. "She is."

"Well let's get her."

"Wait for McGee."

"He's going to take another seven minutes, at least!"

"Not if he's running."

"You didn't tell him to run," Colonel Mann pointed out.

"Yes I did," Gibbs said.

"No, you said, 'You find another way there and block it.'"

"He ran," Gibbs restated, pulling out his phone.

"_In position, Boss!"_ McGee's voice said.

"Stay there until I call you, McGee," Gibbs ordered, smirking at Colonel Mann, who rolled her eyes.

Gibbs and Colonel Mann picked up pace until they entered the Transfiguration hallway. The girl with blonde curls almost ran into them.

"Hello, Madeline," Gibbs greeted.

Madeline stuttered, confused as to why and how Gibbs knew her name.

"It's a bit late for a walk, don't you think, Miss Morgan?" Colonel Mann asked. "When was curfew, Agent Gibbs?"

"I think it was two hours ago, Colonel Mann," Gibbs answered, still looking at Madeline.

"How much punishment do you think that's worth?" Colonel Mann questioned, turning her head to look at Gibbs.

"Out after hours?" Gibbs looked at Colonel Mann. "Twenty, thirty house points. Maybe a detention. I think Miss Morgan is in for quite a bit more, though."

Madeline Morgan's demeanor changed from a student caught off guard to a defensive, angry young woman. "What have I done wrong, Agent?" she asked with very annoyed tones.

"Oh, I can think of quite a few things, Madeline," Gibbs said, an odd half smile on his face. "Murder is one of them."

Madeline clenched her jaw tightly and her fingers began to twitch.

"I'd recommend coming quietly, Miss Morgan," Colonel Mann suggested. "I'd hate for you to wake up your fellow students or any of your teachers. They're all so exhausted!"

"I'm not coming at all!" Madeline snapped. "I haven't done anything."

"You know, I really hate it when I have to do this," Colonel Mann said with very little remorse. She walked around behind Madeline and grabbed her arm, slapping handcuffs onto her wrists. "I think you're familiar with what happens next?"

"I get let off," Madeline sneered.

"Not this time," Gibbs said smugly.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - Blunt Awkwardness

Aren't I just so frustrating? Well... don't answer that. A lot of you probably do think I'm actually frustrating, and you're probably right. I can't say for certain, though. I'm a biased judge.

Leave a review, whether it be to yell at me or pat me on the back!


	60. Blunt Awkwardness

****

Blunt Awkwardness

Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo walked confidently into the interrogation room and sat down across Madeline Morgan. For some reason, her face brightened.

"I've been told you've been causing us quite a bit of trouble, Madeline," Tony said.

"You've been told wrong, Anthony," Madeline said.

Tony's head snapped up from the papers he had been looking at. "Point taken. I'll stick to your last name, you'll stick to mine. Deal?"

"I've no problem with being called 'Madeline'."

"I've got a problem being called 'Anthony.'"

Madeline sighed. "Very well, Agent DiNozzo."

"You wanna tell me what you were doing out of your room so late?" Tony asked.

"Not particularly, Agent," Madeline answered.

"That wasn't really the answer I was looking for, Miss Morgan," Tony said.

"I apologize," Madeline said, leaning up in her chair and placing her forearms on the table. "I was trying to find someone."

Tony suddenly cleared his throat and crossed his legs, turning himself to the side. He popped his neck before continuing.

* * *

Behind the mirror, Ziva was beside herself with giggles.

"What is so amusing about this, Officer David?" Professor Sprout asked irritably.

"Gibbs!" Ziva called, still smiling, "Did you see that?"

"I did, Ziva," Gibbs said, smirking slightly. "I'd get ready. Tony's not going to hold out against her much longer."

Ziva nodded, falling into another fit of girly laughter.

Abby walked into the crowded observation room. "Look at that! All the heads of house!" she said. "Having fun hiding in the shadows there, Snape? WHOAH!" Abby suddenly exclaimed, looking into the interrogation room. She smiled and looked at Gibbs. "What'd Tony do to deserve an interrogation that awkward?"

"Awkward?" Gibbs asked innocently.

"She just rubbed her foot up his leg!" Abby exclaimed.

Ziva threw a hand over her mouth and doubled over. The staff members in the room had quite a different reaction, looking rather disgusted and surprised at their student's behavior.

Gibbs held his hand out to Colonel Mann, who deposited money into it.

"Smug bastard," Colonel Mann said under her breath. "You know, that bet's not really a fair one."

"You agreed to it, Colonel," Gibbs said, putting the money into his breast pocket. He had to work hard to keep a straight face with the looks he was getting from the professors in the room.

* * *

Tony popped his neck again and took a minute to breathe and collect his thoughts. "You've got a cousin that's diabetic," he said to Madeline.

Madeline shrugged. "I bet you could find several other people in this school with diabetics for cousins. What does diabetes have to do with anything? Why pick on me?"

Tony leapt out of his chair as he felt something rub against his leg once more.

"Something wrong, Agent DiNozzo?" Madeline asked innocently.

"How old are you?" Tony asked aggressively.

"Of age," Madeline simply answered.

"You're seventeen!" Tony exclaimed.

"That's of age in my world."

"Not in mine!" Tony left the interrogation room, slamming the door behind himself. He met Gibbs and Ziva in the hall.

"Shut up, Ziva!" Tony snapped at his grinning colleague, rubbing his glistening forehead on his sleeve. He looked at Gibbs. "What'd I do?"

"You didn't do anything, Tony," Gibbs answered. "I was proving a theory."

"By putting me through that?" Tony asked.

"You did good, DiNozzo."

"I will take that file from you, Tony," Ziva offered, holding her hand out, though a large smile was still plastered to her face.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah! Ziva's taking this? I thought she was supposed to still be lost, as far as the students were concerned," Tony objected.

"Madeline Morgan isn't going to rejoin the student body," Gibbs said. "Come on." He opened the door to observation.

Tony walked into the observation room and flushed bright red as he was met with the gazes of Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, Snape, and Sprout.

* * *

Ziva took great joy in the utterly shocked look upon Madeline Morgan's face as she strutted into interrogation. "Are you surprised to see me, Miss Morgan?"

"Of c-course I am!" Madeline stuttered.

"I imagine you did not think I would make it out of the forest, especially after you set all those traps for me," Ziva said coldly.

"Traps?" Madeline asked, making her face blank. "I didn't set any traps. I haven't ever stepped foot in the _Forbidden_ Forest."

"Then I question how your hair ended up tangled in its plants." Ziva looked at Madeline, who made no response. "Things do not look good for you, Miss Morgan. You were out of your dorm at night, your hair was found in the forest following the way I had been traveling. You have a diabetic cousin that you spent weeks with over the summer. You have a criminal record and you were just being rather… forward with Agent DiNozzo."

Madeline could not help but smirk quickly. "You're never 'forward', Officer David?"

Ziva smiled. "Usually I am not. I enjoy the looks they get on their faces when they finally get it."

"I don't think that look is worth it."

"Your goals are different than mine," Ziva said.

"Are they?" Madeline asked. "Pray tell, what are your goals?"

Ziva chuckled. "Information. On occasion I am to retrieve something. It depends on the case. And you? What are your goals?" Ziva raised her eyebrows.

"What makes the world go 'round, Officer David?" Madeline asked. She rubbed her fingers together. "Money."

* * *

"What's she doing?" Tony queried.

"Giving us sight into Miss Morgan's personality, DiNozzo," Gibbs said. "Would you rather give the interview another shot?"

Tony breathed heavily and turned is attention back to the questioning.

"You and I taking it once Ziva's done?" Colonel Mann asked.

"Nope. Jenny and I will," Gibbs responded.

Colonel Mann looked somewhat surprised. "Can she still find her way around?"

"With her eyes closed and her hands tied behind her back," Gibbs said without hesitation.

* * *

Ziva stood and leaned against the wall by the door, looking at her fingernails. "Do you know what I think, Miss Morgan?" She had changed her air from friendly and comforting to cold and seeking with a single sigh.

"What do you think, Officer David?" Madeline asked. She changed her manor to fit the way Ziva had changed.

"I think that you have not been acting alone."

"I haven't been acting at all," Madeline responded.

"Your demeanor is quite different from that of an innocent person," Ziva said calmly. She continued, "I think you are merely the side-kick. You help plan and build, but you would not dare take someone's life yourself. You are too cowardly for that."

"I'm not a coward!" Madeline raged.

"For being a coward you do not belong in Gryffindor," Ziva said, still carelessly looking at her nails. "For not paying enough attention and getting yourself caught you do not belong in Ravenclaw. You are by no means loyal, and so do not belong in Hufflepuff. While you are scheming and slimy, you do not have the guts to be in Slytherin." Ziva looked at Madeline's furious face. "Just where in Hogwarts do you belong, Miss Morgan?"

"I belong here more than you," Madeline snapped. "I know that I am by no means obligated to stay here. You've read me no rights, and you haven't charged me. Get to a point or I'm leaving."

"Are you hungry, Miss Morgan?" Ziva asked. "I know how horrible hunger feels. I would hate for you to have to endure it very long," she said coldly. Ziva left the room.

"What do you think, Ziva?" Jenny asked, leaned against the hall wall.

"She is frustrated enough. It should not take long to break her the rest of the way. If you wish, I could also break her leg to prevent her from – "

"Ziva, stop while you're ahead," Gibbs advised. "Ready, Jenny?"

Jenny pulled herself off the wall and stood straight and tall. "Only stop me if I get to physical abuse."

Gibbs held open the door, Jenny walked in, and then Gibbs closed it behind himself.

"Are you two going to play 'good cop, bad cop'?" Madeline asked.

Jenny sat down in the chair across Madeline while Gibbs leaned up against the mirror.

"Which one do you want to be, Jen?" Gibbs asked.

Jenny gave one short chuckle as she opened Madeline's file. "Look at that, Jethro! Her cousin's from Australia! Where'd Abby say those insulin needles came from?"

"Australia," Gibbs answered, looking straight at Madeline. He was pleased to see her eyes pop.

"What an odd coincidence. We found insulin needles from Australia full of Dragon Pox rigged to my chair, and Miss Morgan here has a diabetic cousin from Australia that she spent three weeks with over the summer. How do you think that looks in court, Jethro?" Jenny asked, leaning back in her chair.

"That looks like enough to get people to begin considering declaring guilt," Gibbs said, still not taking his eyes of Madeline.

Jenny began staring at Madeline as well. "What do you think the people will think when we add on that we found her hair in the forest along Officer David's trail?"

"I think that looks like enough to sway at least half a jury," Gibbs answered.

"What do you think they'll think of her record and the fact that she was out after hours?"

"That's starting to look like a pretty tight case."

"That won't hold up," Madeline said, shaking her head and sitting up in her chair.

"You throw in the way you were behaving toward Agent DiNozzo and people stop looking at you as a school girl. You act like an adult, so they'll treat you as one," Jenny said.

"I'm tired of your games," Madeline sighed. "What do you want?"

"Names," Gibbs said.

"I know all sorts of names, Agent Gibbs," Madeline said.

"How about the name of the guy you've been working with for the past month and three weeks?" Gibbs asked.

"I haven't been working with anyone for the past month and three weeks."

"Madeline, you're done," Jenny said. "We caught you. We've got enough evidence against you. Whether you keep denying us or not, you're going to Azkaban for a very, very long time. Help us and we can get you a cell the dementors don't frequent too terribly often."

"Oh, that sounds completely worth it," Madeline sneered. "Fine. You caught me. I'll give up. I'm done for. But I sure as hell am not turning anyone in."

"Why's that?" Jenny inquired.

A cruel smile appeared on Madeline's face. "You're all weak. By the time I'm ready to turn anyone in you'll all be dead. Why bother telling you anything?"

Gibbs tapped Jenny on the shoulder as her eyes began to burn and her breathing quicken. He twitched his head toward the door and Jenny stormed out of it.

Gibbs sat down across from Madeline and looked remarkably relaxed.

* * *

"Oh no!" Tony gasped. "She's so screwed."

"He looks quite calm, Tony," Ziva objected.

"That's just it, Ziva. He's too calm! It's the calm before the big-ass storm…"

"I gotta go with Tony on this one," McGee said. "One more slip-up and he'll be unleashed."

"I think I'd rather take on a werewolf than Gibbs once she sets him off," Tony said.

Ziva thought for a moment. "What if Gibbs was the werewolf?"

Tony's eyes widened and he looked at his colleague. "A Gibbswolf! No one would ever walk away from it alive!"

"Bet it'd only take a slap to the head to infect you," McGee said, his eyes widening as he teased.

"This isn't a joking matter, McSnarky," Tony snapped. "A Gibbswolf would, without a doubt, be the most frightening creature on the planet."

"I'm going to become the most frightening creature on the planet if you don't shut up, DiNozzo," Jenny said irritably.

"Are you German, Director? Because that would make you a German Sheppard. That'd be pretty frightening, too."

"I'm a bit out of practice slapping heads," Jenny said, looking at her hand. It trembled slightly and two of her fingers seemed locked in position. "Officer David?"

Ziva swiped her hand through the air until it collided with Tony's head with a loud _whack!_. She smiled widely and flexed her fingers.

"Ow!" Tony said after a moment of shock. "Didn't I tell you that if you ever Gibbs-slapped me again I'd hit you back harder?"

Ziva chuckled. "I would like to see you tr – "

"Shush!" Tony demanded, holding up his hand. "The Gibbswolf is about to go in for the kill!" He turned around to face the glass.

"He hasn't said a word since your director left, DiNozzo," Snape droned.

"Bite your tongue, Snape!" Ziva chastised. "She is not patient. Look at her worm," Ziva said with a dark sort of joy. "She will not stay quiet much longer.

"Squirm, Ziva," Tony said exasperatedly. "'Look at her _squirm_.'"

* * *

"Aren't you going to ask some sort of question, Agent Gibbs?" Madeline asked. Her fingers drummed on her crossed arms.

"By the time you tell us anything we'll all be dead," Gibbs said in reply.

Madeline smiled and sat up, putting her forearms on the table once more. "That's right. I'm glad to see we're on the same page."

Gibbs grabbed something under the table. "Not exactly the same page, Miss Morgan. Officer David has said she will gladly break your legs if you don't control them better." He released his hold. Madeline shifted her weight and straightened in her chair.

"Trying to scare me?" Madeline asked, one eyebrow rising above the other.

"Oh, no," Gibbs said with a laugh. "I'm just telling you the honest truth."

"Officer David wouldn't be allowed to break my legs. You'd all lose your jobs."

"As far as we'd be concerned, you fell down some stairs," Gibbs said with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"I don't like being threatened, Agent Gibbs," Madeline hissed. "It's uncivil and cruel!"

* * *

"She's unleashed the Gibbswolf!" Tony cried. "Duck and cover!"

As one, Tony, McGee, and Ziva leapt back from the glass

* * *

"You're going to lecture me on being uncivil and cruel?" Gibbs asked dangerously. His eyes narrowed.

"It seems necessary," Madeline snapped.

Gibbs spilled the contents of a manilla envelope onto the table. Pictures of dead, bruised, and/or bloodied people took up all the space available. Gibbs picked up one of the pictures. A boy stared blankly up, his hair shining and wet. "Remember this kid? Roger Davies, sixth year. He was drowned in the lake."

Gibbs threw Davies' picture off to the side and picked up another. "Gavin McDonald, shot twice in the chest." Gibbs discarded McDonald's picture and went for yet another. "Samantha Madley. Lucky to be alive. Stabbed in the leg. Lost a lot of blood." Another picture. "Padma Patil. Suffocated and hanged. Ashley Mercent. Hanged out by the greenhouses for all to see. Pansy Parkinson. Cut down to the bone on both arms. Bled to death. Penelope Clearwater – "

Madeline turned away before Gibbs held up the picture.

"Look at it!" Gibbs shouted. Madeline still refused to look at the picture of Penelope sprawled out on the Great Hall floor, blood dripping out of her mouth and clinging to her tight curls.

"What?" Gibbs asked, his face now red and blotchy. "Can't look at your dead room mate?"

Breathing deeply, Madeline slowly turned her head to look at the picture.

Gibbs slammed the picture down on the table, causing Madeline to jump. "Your father died when you were nine." He pulled a picture out of his jacket, unfolded it, and set out the picture of a crushed and mangled car.

Madeline reached for the picture, but Gibbs tore it out of her reach. "Children are supposed to out live their parents," Gibbs said bluntly. "This is normal." He tossed the picture behind him. "Tell me. What am I supposed to say to all these kids' parents? These parents who aren't going to get to see their children get married, have children of their own. These parents who are going to be tortured for the rest of their lives, wondering if there was some way they could have saved their son or daughter.

"What do you suppose I tell Mr. Mercent?" Gibbs picked up Ashley's picture again. "His wife died of cancer three years ago. Ashley was all he had left. Do you understand what kind on insanity you have driven him to? He'll lay awake at night, thinking of his little girl, how she was senselessly taken from him. He'll lose his mind rapidly, think there's nothing left in this world for him. He'll start looking at knives and guns thoughtfully, thinking of how easy it'd be to go join his family.

"If you're not scared yet, you should be. Rarely is there something more fearful than a man who has had his family taken from him. These parents will come after you, and I will gladly hand you over to them. The only way you can redeem yourself ever so slightly and save yourself from the dementors, who I'm sure are eager to kiss you, is to tell me who you've been working with to ruin all these lives."

Madeline looked at Gibbs' furious face, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. "I did not drive a man to suicide!" she weakly objected.

"You took his daughter from him," Gibbs argued. "He's seriously considered it, if not acted on the impulse already." He stared Madeline down for another minute. "Who have you been working with?"

"If I tell you," Madeline said, reaching for Penelope's picture, "the rest of _my_ family ends up like this. I'm in too deep to tell you."

"Whether you tell us or not doesn't matter, now that we have you. What do you think your partner will think when they don't see you tomorrow?"

"I'll take my chances," Madeline said.

"That is a big mistake," Gibbs said lowly. "I would have offered to protect your family had you been more cooperative. Now I leave them at your partner's mercy." He got up and left the room before Madeline could say anything else.

* * *

"Hey, Boss," Tony began as Gibbs returned from the conference room after a long talk with Dumbledore and the Heads of Houses, "why didn't you mention us at all? I mean, chucking federal operatives into a forest, almost letting them be burned to a crisp, setting a werewolf on them, and injecting them with a highly dangerous disease would make her look even worse in court."

"I try to avoid getting myself angry enough to hit a suspect in interrogation, DiNozzo," Gibbs said evenly, sitting down at his desk. "What have you got?"

Tony, Ziva, and McGee exchanged slightly terrified looks.

"We are starting to hit dead ends again," Ziva said bravely.

Gibbs looked thoughtful for a moment before standing and giving his charges each a letter with their name on it.

McGee opened his carefully and unfolded the fancy paper within the envelope. "An invitation to a ball?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Well, we can't go," Tony said quickly. "We're on a case, Boss! We can't be seen dressing up and chowing down on caviar and crème brulee!"

"Minister Fudge has insisted on us going, DiNozzo, and so we will. You have until the ball to find out who Madeline Morgan's partner is," Gibbs said.

"The ball is tomorrow, Gibbs!" Ziva protested.

"Then you'd better get to work, Officer David," Gibbs suggested. He left his desk and walked into Ducky's morgue.

"He's joking, right?" McGee asked his coworkers, his eyebrows drawn together in concern.

"I don't think so, Probie," Tony said distantly.

"I'm going to go help Abby!" McGee was gone in an instant.

Tony and Ziva looked across their desks at each other for a moment before beginning to hurriedly type away and start dialing numbers on their phones at the same time.

"Who are we even calling?" Ziva asked in a frustrated voice after a minute. "No one we need to talk to right now knows how to use a phone!"

"I don't know," Tony admitted. "But I've learned that the busier you look, the longer you can stay out of Gibbs' way." He hit a few more numbers and held the phone between his head and his elbow as he continued typing on his computer.

"The dragon pox," Ziva said quietly to herself. She jumped out of her chair and ran into the lab.

* * *

**Author's Note**

The next chapter, I am sorry to say, is without a name. So I shall give a preview.

What happens on the night of the big ball? What mysterious "100% guaruntee" does Tony have? Why is Kingsley late in arriving to escort NCIS to the ministry? Will everyone on the NCIS team be able to handle the mode of transoportation chosen for them? And what elaborate scheme has Gibbs set up now?

All shall be told! Wait... yeah. All will be told!

Leave a review!

Oh! And why did I write Madeline the way I did? Because I can and because the Hogwarts student body can't really be as perfect as it seems. Deal.


	61. The Beginning

**The Beginning**

Professor McGonagall walked into the Room of Requirement to see Gibbs sitting at his desk in a pressed black suit, though the jacket was thrown over the back of his chair. Two stripes of red ran down his buttoned white shirt in an undone tie. Shoes so clean and shiny one would be able to see their face in them sat in front of his desk. Gibbs leaned forward on his arms instead of leaning back against the chair to avoid what wrinkles he could.

"I see you're ready," McGonagall said somewhat sarcastically.

Gibbs looked down at his incomplete outfit. "Abby, Jenny, and Holly are still getting ready. I haven't been attacked yet."

As soon as Gibbs had finished speaking, Tony stumbled out of a door in the wall in a suit, trying to pull his blue tie loose. "Boss!" he choked with his tie still suffocating him, "It's terrible! They're all snapping at anyone disturbing them and eating _chocolate_! I think they've _synced up_!"

"Tony, that's not funny…" McGee said from the top of the staircase to MTAC, still in his work clothes.

"Probie!" Tony exclaimed. "What are you doing? Didn't you hear me? _Chocolate!_ And lots of it! Get changed before they see you!"

McGee dashed down the stairs and into a new door that had appeared in the wall.

"Synced up, Agent DiNozzo?" McGonagall asked.

"Yes, Professor," Ducky said, coming into the bull pen, Jimmy behind him. He too was in a nice suit, though he wore a deep green bow tie as opposed to the regular tie. "Unfortunately for those of us in suits, those who are currently putting on dresses and make-up have been living with each other for so long that their menstrual cycles have lined up," he said absentmindedly as he fastened his cufflinks.

"I thought Abby was going to kill me yesterday when I asked her to double check something," Jimmy said as he fought with his tie.

Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows. It was all she could do to keep from smiling at the awkward situation that, with this group of people, was likely to end with blood, or at least some torn clothes.

"Gah!" Jimmy said after a moment. He dropped his hands to his side, revealing a knot of silver fabric. "Where's Ziva?"

"No! Palmer!" Tony said desperately, grabbing Jimmy's arm. "Don't do it! That's how this happened!" Tony yanked at the tie that was still pinching uncomfortably at his throat, refusing to be loosened.

"Neither of you ever learned to tie a tie?" Colonel Mann asked, striding into the bull pen. She had yet to change into a dress, but her hair was done up marvelously in an elaborate bun with various ornaments and her green themed make-up looked fabulous. "Having a fun conversation, boys?"

"Not even before you came in, Colonel," Tony admitted, trying to keep a safe distance.

Colonel Mann walked over to Tony, despite his attempts to squirm away. With one tug, she undid Tony's tie. "Didn't Officer David warn you not to play any tricks on her today?" She walked over to a closet, grabbed a long bag on a hanger, and then went back in the door she had come out of.

Tony exhaled in relief. "I thought she was going to jab a bobby pin in my neck!"

"Perhaps you ought to listen to them in the coming days, Agent DiNozzo?" McGonagall suggested.

"Nah," Gibbs said carelessly from his desk. "Ziva will calm down by the time we get to the ball. Jen'll be fine once she's eaten her bar of chocolate. Abby's going to be too distracted with all that's going on to be in a bad mood. Colonel Mann isn't usually too bad to begin with."

"Teach me in your ways!" Tony begged with admiration.

McGee walked into the bull pen and sat at his desk to put his dress shoes on.

"I am sorry you have to sit through this, Professor," Ducky said to the teacher standing next to him.

"To be perfectly honest, I'm rather amused," McGonagall admitted.

"Is that so?" Ducky said with a chuckle. After a moment of quiet he spoke again. "I confess I expected you to be upset that we were leaving."

"You've done a decent job of getting in and out of the castle unseen before and the ghosts are taking patrol tonight," McGonagall said.

"Ah," Ducky said uneasily, turning his gaze forward in time to see Gibbs slap Tony upside the head before fixing the younger man's tie.

McGonagall suddenly glared at Ducky. "I knew it!" she hissed. "What's Gibbs pulling out of his sleeve this time?"

"I'd try to put it out of your head, my dear Professor," Ducky said, trying to sound normal.

"Doctor Mallard – "

"Ducky!" Ducky corrected.

"Ducky," McGonagall said the name foreign to her with some amount of difficulty before continuing. "What is going on?"

Gibbs suddenly appeared behind the pair. "You ready to go, Duck?"

"Of course!" Ducky said eagerly, hurrying away.

Gibbs stood tall in front of McGonagall, ready to be yelled at. Professor McGonagall, however, had learned that it was better for her not to make the first attack. After a silent moment full of tension, Gibbs spoke. "I'd do as Ducky advised, Professor. Get some grading done, write a few letters, go to bed early," Gibbs suggested. He turned and walked back to his colleagues before the professor could protest.

A door in the wall opened and Abby stepped through it. She wore her signature black, though she looked exquisite. Her dress draped down gracefully to the floor, and a silver shawl around her shoulders fell to her waist. Abby had dawned on black gloves that reached to her elbows and clutched a small silver purse. Her hair had been pulled back in a simple twist and was held by nothing visible.

Ziva came out after Abby. She wore a dress of sky blue with a fairly straight skirt. The fabric pulled together at the top and was strapped around her neck by a sort of built in necklace. She had straightened her hair and merely pulled it into a pony tail, though her elaborate make-up made up for the almost casual hairstyle.

Colonel Mann came next in a dark green, simple and elegant dress. Her skirts floated behind her and revealed her rather high black heels. Gibbs' eye twitched slightly as he looked at the heels. He failed to understand how one could walk in such shoes and not fall every other step.

Jenny strode out last in a strapless red dress. An inner layer of fabric stayed close to her figure, though folds of thin, sparkly fabric came off it. The skirts floated away from her, but did not reveal what sort of shoes she was wearing. A shawl wrapped around behind her that hung in the bend of her arms. Her unseen shoes clicked on the ground with every step.

Professor McGonagall looked to see what ties matched with what dresses and was surprised to see that Gibbs had thrown his shoes and jacket on as well as done up his tie without her notice within forty-five seconds.

Ducky held his arm out to Colonel Mann, Gibbs to Jenny. Tony walked next to Ziva, though he was sure to avoid touching her at all possible costs. Abby grabbed McGee and Jimmy with a wide smile, thrilled to have two escorts.

"Take my arm, Tony!" Ziva snapped suddenly.

"I don't want to touch you!" Tony said, jumping back.

Ziva reached down and yanked on one of her shoes, pulling loose the heel. With a flick of her wrist, she released a blade from within the heel. "Do not mess with me, DiNozzo! Do as I say and we will both come back unharmed! Now take my arm so we can blend in!"

Tony nervously stepped closer to his partner. As he did, she flipped her knife closed and slid her heel back on to the shoe.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said as he shoved his and Jenny's invitations into his breast pocket.

"100% guarantee, Boss!" Tony replied immediately, though he had been asked no apparent question. "Everything's set."

Nodding, Gibbs walked over to McGee's desk and threw open a drawer. He threw a black band with a case of some sort on it to McGee and strode over to the agent with a gun. "Don't go anywhere without it, Tim," he said, holding out the weapon.

"You were going to leave your weapon, McGee?" Tony asked as though offended. "Do you drive without your license, too?"

"I hate this thing," McGee said sourly as he pulled up his pant leg to strap what was thrown at him to his ankle. He slid his gun into the compartment it conveniently fit in and folded his pant leg back down.

"You hate it, McGee?" Jenny said with a raised eyebrow. "You men get to strap your gun to your ankle. Where do you think we've got to strap ours?"

McGee looked confused for a moment before deciding he would prefer not to think about it.

"How are you getting there, Zee-vah?" Tony asked.

"I am going with you, DiNozzo," Ziva said.

"But we're walking right into the busiest part of the building," Tony said confusedly.

"Are you?" Ziva asked with false surprise.

Professor McGonagall forced herself to breathe slowly as Gibbs announced that it was time to go and the team walked out into the halls, not bothering to hide or be sneaky at all. She followed them to the Entrance Hall and handed them off to Alastor Moody and Tonks.

"Wow! Look at all this!" Tonks exclaimed, running Abby's shawl through her hands. "Bet it took you all day to get ready, eh?"

"We rushed it," Abby said. "All this," she gestured to her hair, make-up, and outfit, "hour and a half."

"Nice! This only took me thirty minutes," Tonks said, waving a hand at her shimmering purple robes. Today her hair was long and black, though when she moved one could see tints of purple that matched her robes. "But I'm not one for looking fancy."

"Are you done, Tonks?" Moody snapped.

"What's wrong with small talk, Moody?" Tonks asked. "We can't leave until Kingsley gets here, anyway!"

"Damn fool," Moody growled. "Supposed to be here ten minutes ago."

"There's no need to keep checking over your shoulder, Professor," Gibbs said to McGonagall.

"You're standing in the middle of the main hall of the school with Officer David, and it's not even curfew yet!" McGonagall hissed.

"I am not hiding anymore, Professor," Ziva explained.

"You're not?" Tonks said. "And to think I kept my mouth shut about you being back all that time!"

"Not hiding?" Moody said, limping over to Gibbs. "What's this here, Gibbs? Trying to make the killer lash out?"

As Gibbs opened his mouth to reply, Kingsley Shacklebolt strode into the Entrance Hall. "Good evening, Professor, Moody, Tonks, NCIS," he greeted in his low voice.

"Same from me," said a familiar voice, walking in after Kingsley.

Tony applauded. "Way to be on time, Fornell!"

"Your Director neglected to tell me I had to be ready for a ball, DiNozzo," Fornell calmly replied, swiveling his eyes toward the woman he spoke of.

"I figured you'd show up in a suit anyway," Jenny said with a shrug.

"Oh, because my office has a dress code!" Fornell quipped. "Cute."

"I try," Jenny said.

"Where's Emily?" Abby asked, sounding disappointed.

"Somewhere safe," Fornell said shortly, indicating no more questions were to be asked.

Abby ignored the tone of voice and spoke more, "Oh, I guess you can't leave the country with her, right? Violation of custody protocol."

Fornell glared at Abby.

"It's a shame you wasted those fifteen minutes getting ready, Tobias. You're not coming with us," Gibbs said.

"Ten minutes, actually. What do you need fifteen for?" Fornell asked. "And why the hell am I not coming with you?"

Gibbs beckoned Fornell closer to him and whispered something in the FBI agent's ear.

Fornell shrugged. "I can do that," he said and left the Entrance Hall, heading upstairs.

"Are we going?" Tonks asked. "I want to get there before all the good appetizers are taken!"

Moody herded the group over to a large fireplace, hot, blazing flames coming from it.

"Yeah, not a big fan of fire," Tony said, rubbing his right forearm. "Let's take a few steps back."

"Oh, don't be such a baby," Tonks chided. "Kingsley, show them!"

"Dumbledore did open this fireplace to the floo network?" Kingsley asked McGonagall, who nodded shortly. Kingsley reached into his pocket and pulled out a pouch. From the pouch he took out a pinch of powder and threw it into the fireplace and handed the pouch Tonks. The flames suddenly turned green. He stepped in and said clearly, "Ministry of Magic, England." Kingsley disappeared with a _whoosh_ and the flames went back to their plain orange color.

"No way in hell!" Tony exclaimed, backing away from the fire. "I'll walk!"

Rolling her eyes, Ziva snatched a bit of powder, threw it into the fireplace, grabbed Tony, and dragged him into the fire with her. "Ministry of Magic, England."

Tonks held out the bag in her hand. "Who's next?"

Abby jumped forward. After her went Jimmy, McGee, Colonel Mann and Ducky, then Jenny.

Gibbs went in after the rest of his team. He stumbled out of a large fireplace and began brushing ashes off his suit. He heard rather than saw Tonks and Moody come through after him.

"I could get used to this," Tony said, looking around at the atrium in which he stood with awe.

Gibbs looked around as well. The place was decorated rather elaborately. A golden statue stood in the middle of the entire atrium. The dark floors were highly polished, and the ceiling of the room was blue with moving golden symbols laid into it.

"Kinglsey! Alastor! You've made it!" said a portly man with graying hair. "And these must be the Muggles I've heard so much about!"

"All yours, Fudge," Moody growled before limping off, Tonks at his heels.

"Director Jenny Sheppard, Minister Fudge," Jenny said, holding out her hand. "We've corresponded a few times."

Fudge took Jenny's hand. "You've got very nice writing, Mrs. Sheppard!"

"Director or Miss, Minister," Jenny corrected. She jabbed Gibbs with her elbow rather sneakily. She could sense the smirk on his face from a mile away.

"My mistake," Fudge apologized. "Ah, Dolores!" he said warmly as a short, stout woman resembling a toad came into sight and stood at his side. "You're just in time! We're getting to the introductions! I'd like you to meet Dolores Umbridge, my senior undersecretary," Fudge said to the Muggles before him.

"So we finally get to meet the Muggles?" Umbridge asked. Jenny had to work hard to keep from showing her surprise at the simpering voice that came out of the woman's mouth. She had been expecting a croak, or a raspy voice, at least.

"I'm Director Jenny Sheppard," Jenny said. "This is Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, he's heading the investigation."

"Head of investigation?" Umbridge questioned, tacking a small chuckle onto the end of her sentence. "How long have you been head of the case, Mr. Gibbs?"

"_Agent_ Gibbs has been at the head of the case since we arrived, Ms. Umbridge," Jenny said, slyly correcting the fat woman.

"Oh," was all Umbridge responded with.

Gibbs flashed a small smile. "These are Agents DiNozzo and McGee and Officer David. Doctor Mallard, Jimmy Palmer, Abby Scuito, and Lieutenant Colonel Mann," he said, gesturing to each person in turn.

"I'm very pleased to meet you all," Fudge said, addressing the people Gibbs had just introduced. "I hope you have a wonderful time here. If, for some reason, you need to leave early, you can just find Kingsley. He'll get you back." Fudge turned his attention to Gibbs and Jenny. "I was hoping you two would stick with me for a while. I've been wanting to speak with you."

"Certainly, Minister," Jenny said.

Gibbs leaned toward Tony. "Keep an eye on your coworkers, DiNozzo."

"Will do, Boss!" Tony said dutifully.

"Come on, Tony!" Ziva said, pulling on her escort's arm. "We cannot just stand here all night!"

Gibbs watched his team disperse before turning his attention back to the Minister, his secretary, and Jenny.

"So tell me, Agent Gibbs, what sort of progress have you made recently?" Fudge asked as the group of four began to walk around.

"Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall have been filling you in," Gibbs said.

Umbridge poorly camouflaged a scoff as a cough.

"The Professors at Hogwarts have their hands quite full, Agent Gibbs," Fudge said after a slight hesitation. "I haven't been hearing from them as much as I usually would."

"What was the last thing you heard from them, Minister?" Jenny asked.

"The last thing I heard about was Officer David's and the poor Weasley girl's being found!"

Jenny smiled for a moment. "Yes, they're back," she said simply.

"I've heard that there was some sort of argument between Professor Snape and Officer David shortly after her return," Umbridge said, trying to prompt a release of information.

"Yes, there was," Jenny admitted. "That situation was dealt with and won't happen again."

"One might wonder if Officer David really ought to stay with you in the investigation, Mr. Gibbs," Umbridge simpered. "She doesn't seem to be very stable."

Gibbs smiled briefly. "I'm sure you'd be a bit off if you'd been carrying a twelve year old on your back for a week without food or sleep, Ms. Umbridge," he said smartly.

"Good God!" Fudge exclaimed. "We weren't told that she didn't eat or sleep!"

"The Weasley girl was fine," Umbridge said. "Why was Officer David in such poor condition?"

"Officer David could only manage to procure enough supplies for Miss Weasley," Jenny said.

Gibbs looked over the balcony on which he now stood. He saw Tony dancing with a woman with dull red hair. Ziva stood off on the wall, having been pulled away from Tony by a tall man with a childish face, blonde hair, and blue eyes. Ziva accidently dropped the small bag in her hand as she laughed at something the man in front of her had said. As the man went down to grab the purse, Ziva flashed a meaningful glance at Gibbs.

Gibbs looked rather satisfied. He quickly found Colonel Mann and Ducky speaking with some very official looking people. Jimmy had joined them. Gibbs' eyes narrowed as he spotted Abby and McGee desperately weaving through the crowd. Gibbs turned his eyes toward the fireplaces he and his team had arrived from and quickly understood.

"Dance, Jen?" Gibbs asked, interrupting the conversation.

"Agent Gibbs?" Jenny questioned, tones of great anger under her voice.

"This song reminds me of _Madrid_," Gibbs said, stressing the last word.

Jenny took the incognito hint and cast a glance over the crowd. Her eyes widened slightly.

"You know what, Jethro? It does!" Jenny said. "Would you excuse us a moment, Minister Fudge? This just isn't something easily passed up."

"Oh, no," Fudge said with a wave of his hand. "I invited you here to have a break from work!"

Jenny and Gibbs quickly descended the nearest staircase and worked their way to the middle and most heavily populated area of the dance floor.

"What's she doing here already?" Jenny hissed, looking over Gibbs' shoulder at their problem.

"Something's going on. She's looking for us," Gibbs said in reply.

"She can't be looking for us! We're not done here yet!"

"We will be if she finds us."

"Lead over to Tony," Jenny instructed. "The song's almost over. He can't leave this floor until he's completely set."

Gibbs and Jenny twirled on over until they were right next to Tony.

"McGonagall at 8 o'clock, DiNozzo," Jenny managed to hiss without being noticed by Tony's dance partner.

The dance ended shortly after. As Gibbs and Jenny walked past Tony again they heard him say, "One more, Carlie?"

Jenny left Gibbs at the wall and took the long way back up to the balcony so as to pass Ducky on the way.

Gibbs walked over to Ziva and the man that she was still speaking to.

"Gibbs," Ziva said warmly. "This is Ludo Bagman, head of the Department of Games and Sports. Ludo, this is Agent Gibbs, my boss."

Gibbs shook hands with Ludo Bagman.

"It's quite a pleasure to meet you, Agent Gibbs!" Bagman said energetically. "I've been looking forward to it ever since I heard about your chasing down Cedric Diggory. That's not an easy thing to do! He's quite the flier!"

"That he is," Gibbs admitted. "I need to borrow Officer David for a dance, if you don't mind."

"I do mind," Bagman said. "She's quite fun for conversation. However, I'll let you 'borrow' her anyway."

Gibbs thanked Bagman and held his hand out to Ziva, quickly pulling her to the heaviest part of the crowd.

"Did you see? Ziva asked. "She was the Director's healer!"

"I saw, Ziva," Gibbs said. "Same hair and everything."

"If you saw then why have you pulled me away? Mr. Bagman knows a lot of useful gossip."

"McGonagall is here looking for us," Gibbs answered.

"So soon?" Ziva queried. "How much longer will we stay before we allow ourselves to be found?"

"Jen's already back up with Fudge," Gibbs said. "She'll tell us when."

"She is on a balcony, Gibbs! McGonagall is probably heading toward her already!"

"Tony's working fast," Gibbs said.

"What about Ducky?"

"Jenny would have stayed there if he wasn't ready."

"There it is," Ziva said, here eyes directed up at the balcony.

Gibbs and Ziva did a quick turn in step. He looked up and saw Jenny with a glass in her hand.

The dance ended. Gibbs and Ziva went up to meet Jenny on the balcony, as did Ducky, Jimmy, Colonel Mann, Abby, and McGee.

"You can throw one heck of a party, Minister Fudge!" Abby said, a great smile plastered onto her face.

"Why thank you very much, Miss Scuito!" Fudge said happily.

"Officer David, I've been wondering," Umbridge started, "what was that spat you had with Professor Snape about?"

Ziva was saved the issue of answering by an exclamation from Fudge.

"Minerva! You made it after all! A little bit late, but that's better than nothing, I suppose," Fudge said with a smile.

"I'm not here to stay, Cornelius, thank you," McGonagall said shortly.

"What a pity," Umbridge pouted with exaggeration that suggested she did not think it to be a pity at all.

"What do you need, Professor?" Jenny asked, taking a sip of whatever was in her glass.

"You've been left another message," McGonagall stated. "You need to come back, _now_."

Gibbs looked over the balcony to find Tony, but the younger man was already climbing the staircase, a woman with dull red hair at his side.

"Hey, Ducky! Carlie here was hoping to ask you a few questions!" Tony said, gesturing to his partner.

"Carlie, it's nice to see you," Jenny said warmly.

"You're doing very well, Director!" Carlie said happily. "You're not even green anymore."

Jenny dipped her finger in her drink and rubbed her arm for a minute. Green began to emerge. "Still green. Just hiding it."

"I'm sorry to disrupt this happy conversation, but there's a bit of an emergency here!" McGonagall snapped, quite out of character from her normal reserved self.

"Yes, well, Carlie, I'll be happy to answer whatever questions you have. As a matter of fact, I'd love to answer them now. I need something to distract me whenever this lot's off doing something," Ducky said, gesturing to the NCIS team.

"Oh, wonderful!" Carlie said.

"You'll have to come with us to ask your questions," Gibbs stated. "We're leaving now."

"Thank you so much for inviting us, Minister," Jenny said. She handed her half-empty glass to him and took the arm Gibbs offered her. "It was fun while it lasted. I'm sure you'll hear from us again soon. Good bye, Miss Umbridge!"

"It was nice to finally meet you," Umbridge said, giving a toothy smile.

"Farewell!" Fudge said.

"Oh my goodness! Professor you're fifteen minutes earlier than we thought you'd be! Thank you!" Jenny sighed once the group had safely made it over to the fireplaces.

"You were expecting me?" McGonagall queried, offering a pouch of powder to Tony and Carlie. Tony quickly pulled Carlie into the green flames and the pair disappeared.

"Yes, we were expecting you," Jenny said.

"I thought you'd want to stay longer, Jen," Gibbs said. "You looked like you were having so much fun."

"Oh, yeah. Loads of it, Jethro. I don't know if you noticed, but Fudge wasn't exactly looking at my face half of the time he was talking to me!

"You said it'd take an hour, minimum! He's moving a lot faster than you thought," Jenny said worriedly.

"I _knew_ it! Well, I hope you're happy with the results of your scheming!" McGonagall snarled.

"What's our message, Professor?" Gibbs asked.

"Go see for yourself, Gibbs," McGonagall snapped, holding out the powder to him.

Gibbs took the powder, threw it into the flames, and disappeared. He looked at the large and bloody message before him upon which Tony and his new friend were already gazing.

_"Keep her. I was wondering how long it'd take to get her out of my way. Now the real fun can begin, Jethro! Happy hunting…"_

* * *

**Author's Note**

I'm a bad writer. The next chapter doesn't have a name either. I apologize. I will, however, inform you that it is from _his_ point of view. Excited? Worried? Indifferent? Was that a completely worhtless preview? Yeah, probably. But that's about all I can tell you without giving away all the fun!

I have a confession to make. It slipped my mind last chapter. The Gibbswolf was not my idea, and I forgot to credit allenterrill with it. Thanks to allenterril, for letting me use the Gibbswolf! :)

Leave me a prettiful review? I'll put it on my fridge if you do...


	62. As He Sees It

**As He Sees It**

How delightful, he thought. The man from the FBI had returned! He had really rather missed the FBI agent and his daughter. How silly of the man to think that he had safely hidden the little girl though. Really? Had he not proved that he could find someone and get them anywhere he wanted? Had he not proved that he was always ahead of the game?

He slipped into the Room of Requirement right after the FBI agent, hid, and waited. He had all the time he wanted. Why rush things?

The FBI man spoke with _her_ for a while, then came out of the interrogation room and climbed the stairs. He pounded on one silver door, then one a little bit down the hall. His anger bubbled as two people emerged from the rooms. So that was where they had been hiding?

He unsheathed his small, but sharp weapon, and crouched, ready to jump.

The FBI agent lead the two people down the stairs and was due to pass him. He waited for just the right moment. Time seemed to drag on. What had to be only seconds seemed like an hour.

Finally, the opportune moment came. He leapt out from his spot and tackled the FBI man.

"Get back there, Cedric!" the man shouted, beginning to put up a fight.

He saw briefly a boy grabbing a girl's arm and dragging her off into the scientist's lab. No matter. He would finish those jobs in a moment.

He grabbed the FBI man's arm mid-punch and stuck his knife into it soundly before dragging it down to the man's hand.

The FBI agent looked at his arm in concerned wonder and shock. He took advantage of the man's bewilderment and stabbed the other arm. He took great pleasure in watching the crimson liquid pour onto the cheap, generic carpet.

"Bye-bye, Fornell," he said with a pouting lower lip, waving sadly with twitching fingers. As the FBI agent let his head fall to the ground, however, he smiled and skipped over to the scientist's lab.

The doors slid open and he made his way straight to the back where a plain wooden door stood. He put his hand on the doorknob, and was blasted backward. "Clever, Diggory," he said, propped up on the floor with his elbows, "but I'll only come back later." He got up off the floor and left the Room of Requirement.

* * *

He burned with anger. How dare they! How terribly sneaky of them! They had left, just as he had wanted, but they had returned with something he had not foreseen. He contained his anger temporarily to listen as the leader began barking orders.

"Tony, escort your guest upstairs. Check on Fornell and put Cedric and Lavender in the back. Lock and barricade the doors."

He grinned evilly as he realized he was still a few steps ahead, despite their unexpected move.

"Abby, Jimmy, Ducky, I want that place rigged as much as it can be. Colonel Mann, you take the Astronomy tower. McGee, second floor. Ziva, grounds. Jen, keep an eye on the dorm," the leader commanded.

He swore. _Dorm_? Not dorm_s_? Only one? Was he not as ahead as he thought?

Nonsense, he told himself. Even if they did know what dorm to look at, it would soon matter no more, especially since he knew where everyone he wanted would be. The leader had not said where he would be patrolling, but the leader was a part of special circumstances. The leader was going to stay alive until he was driven to complete insanity or "took care" of himself.

He set off to follow the group going up to the Room of Requirement.

The obnoxious one pulled Carlie along behind him, no matter her attempts to pull herself free.

No matter, he told himself. Soon they would discover his latest work, and they would be sorry.

"Fornell!" the scientist shrieked.

He smiled slowly, taking great joy in the situation. The doctor squatted down and put his finger to his fallen friend's throat. A moment later he stood.

"Nothing," the doctor announced.

He chuckled soundlessly to himself and set off. He had much other work to do.

* * *

Things could not be going more smoothly. The fat one walked around, thinking himself to be sneaky and quiet. He could hear those footsteps anywhere.

"You escaped me once," he said quietly. "Make no mistake; it will not happen again!"

He waited for the fat one to pass his hiding spot by, then leapt out and made a fuss about it. The fat one did exactly as he had wanted.

He began running, hearing the heavy footfalls come after him. He lead the way to a dead end and ripped open a portrait. He jumped into his passageway and ran a loop, coming out from behind the fat one.

He kicked the fat one in the back of the knee and quickly bound the man's feet while he was down, and then opened his passageway again. He slid the end of the rope in and shut the door quickly, effectively keeping the rope from being pulled further. The fat one was not going anywhere.

He reached into the fat one's pocket and pulled out a cell phone.

"I thought I had gotten my point across to you lot, but I was wrong," he said, stepping back to the end of the hall. He pulled out a match, lit it, and set a curtain on fire. "You should have listened to me while you still had a chance."

His joy and confidence soared as he heard the fat one shout after him while he calmly walked away. As much as he wanted to stay, he was far from finished.

* * *

This was simply too easy. There was the army woman, walking the same loop over and over again. Honestly, he thought her to be better than that.

He waited until he saw her climb the stairs. Really, it could not be that easy. And yet it was. She had her back to the door, and had not shut it behind herself. He crept up from behind and pushed.

The army woman tumbled over the side of the tower, her skirts fluttering about.

Unfortunately for him, the army woman managed to grab onto the wall and jabbed her heel into a foothold. He looked down at her and she up at him.

"Disappointed?" she asked.

"No," he answered. "You won't hold on for long." He pulled a bottle of oil out of his pocket and poured it down the side of the tower, making all the stones slippery. "And I come prepared."

The army woman looked up at him furiously. He, however, had been distracted by a figure he saw out on the grounds, creeping around the tree line of the Forbidden Forest.

"Look on the bright side," he said, turning his attention back to the woman hanging off the tower. "When you fall, you can pretend you're flying!" He turned and left, cackling to himself without care.

* * *

The foreign woman would not be difficult. All he needed to do was get her to chase him, and he was in the clear. His plan was set.

He walked out the main doors and crept to the edge of the forest. His target passed him, and he began to stalk her.

He resisted the urge to jump and swear as he stepped on a pile of leaves. Luck, however, was on his side. The foreign woman had taken no notice. Better yet, she was headed straight toward the lake. There would not even need to be a chase.

Alas, things would not be quite as easy as he thought. The foreign woman reached down to her shoe and detached the heel before whipping around. He quickly charged at her, hoping to knock her into the lake. She stood her ground.

"Why can't you just take the hint and _die_?" he asked. He was tired of these games. They were done for. They needed to forfeit.

As the woman flicked a knife out of her shoe heel, he smiled. He saw his opportunity. The skirt on her dress did not allow her to place her feet too far away from each other. Her balance would not be very strong.

He ran at her again, picking up as much speed as he could. He had been right; the woman fell into the lake. He grinned at her as she came up for a breath, and laughed as she suddenly disappeared beneath the water, as if she was being dragged down.

"Note to self: never eat calamari again. Thank you, giant squid!" He pulled one of the woman's hairs off his robes. "Good bye, Officer David! It's been fun," he said with sadistic joy as he watched her sink deeper for another moment before leaving.

* * *

He headed back to his dorm. The red head woman was the only obstacle left as he had no desire to get the leader or the obnoxious one. The obnoxious one wold guilt trip himself into quitting, and the Ministry would fix his memory before he did so. The leader would take care of himself, more than likely, and that would be far more satisfying than anything he had in mind.

The red head clearly did not want to be where she was. She was being far too obvious about staking the dorm out. She paced from one end of the hall to the other over and over again. To make things even better, she had provided the instrument of her own death.

He waited for her to pass, then slid out of his passageway. In one quick movement, he tore the fabric from around her arms and wrapped it tightly around her neck. He began stepping back, taking her with him.

He jumped as he heard a gunshot echo through the halls, and doubled over as something rammed into his stomach. He released his hold on his captive unintentionally.

The red headed woman pointed her gun at him, and his blood began to boil until she called, "Set!" For a moment, he felt like laughing. She thought she had adequate back up.

Quite suddenly, his stomach turned as he realized that she did, in fact, have adequate back up. The obnoxious one, the foreign woman, the fat one, the woman from the Army, and even the man from the FBI joined the red head in the hallway.

"You tried to kill my little girl," said the FBI man. "That really wasn't a good idea."

He whirled around and was faced with the leader. The leader looked satisfied and calm, which scared him more than anything.

"You're done," said the leader.

He smiled cruelly and procured an odd sort of remote from up his sleeve. "You'd think I was done, wouldn't you, Jethro?" He slammed two of his fingers onto separate buttons. "Dead man's switch. Forefinger's for that whore's cousin. Middle finger's for your dear Emily."

Concern flickered through the leader's eyes.

"Oh, ho! Look who's still a step ahead," he said joyously.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - As They See It

You didn't really think I'd be nice and leave you without a cliffhanger, did you?

Be awesome. Review.


	63. As They See It

**As They See It**

"Hello, Miss Morgan," Fornell said politely, entering the small interrogation room. "I'm Agent Fornell."

"I know who you are," Madeline said shortly.

"Then you know that my daughter is the little girl that had a bomb planted under her chair and was thrown into the ice cold lake and left to die."

Madeline merely raised an eyebrow briefly.

"I am not the man you want to mess with right now, Madeline," Fornell said, allowing his false aura of calm to break briefly. A moment later, he brought his forced smile back onto his face.

Having seen the anger Fornell was hiding, Madeline straightened up in her chair. "I didn't have anything to do with anything that happened to your daughter."

"Bull crap," Fornell said, the falsity of his smile becoming more evident. "Maybe you didn't throw her into the lake yourself, but you've been helping whoever did. Now would be an excellent time to tell me everything you know."

"I can't," Madeline blurted, the panic she had been hiding breaking through. "I can't!"

Fornell pulled his phone out of his pocket and read what was on the screen before speaking again to Madeline. "Tell me about your summer. You and your family have just been all over the place. I'm interested."

"You already know where we've all been!" Madeline snapped. "My family isn't any of your business."

"You're making me angry, Madeline," Fornell said. He leaned over the table slightly. "It's just you and me here. That camera isn't running, and there are no witnesses."

"Do your people make a habit of threatening everyone they question?" Madeline asked, quite offended.

"I'm not giving you an empty threat, Madeline! Your partner almost killed my daughter twice. This is not a situation I am taking lightly. Answer the questions I ask you! Tell me what happened with your family over the summer and how you got yourself into this mess!"

"Fine!" Madeline exclaimed. "At the beginning of the summer my cousin, Anna, was diagnosed with diabetes. My uncle is a single father, and he still had to work and look out of Izzy, his younger daughter. So my mom offered an exchange. She'd send me to go help Anna adjust to her new condition and he would send Izzy to live with her for the summer. After a month Anna was to the point that she could take care of herself pretty easily, so I went home. Izzy was supposed to go home, too, but all of Anna's diabetes stuff cost too much for my uncle. So she's staying with us for a year. I looked after her until I came back to school. Are you happy?"

"No," Fornell said with a slight shake of his head. "You didn't tell me where your newest job came in."

"Just a few days after I got back from Australia. I don't know how, but he knew what was going on. He offered me a chance to make a lot of money. I took it."

"And you won't tell me who 'he' is, why?" Fornell queried.

"Because if I tell you, he'll go get Izzy and my mum. And Gibbs already told me that he might think that I've flipped on him by now, but I'm taking my chances," Madeline said firmly.

"You should have listened to Gibbs," Fornell said, looking at his phone again. "Your mother issued a missing persons report for Isabelle Morgan fifteen minutes ago."

"No!" Madeline screamed. She flung herself at the door repeatedly, but it refused to budge and she began crying.

"Is this your partner?" Fornell asked aggressively, holding up a picture to Madeline.

"Yes! Go get him, please!" Madeline desperately pleaded.

Fornell walked over to the chair he had been sitting on and pulled what looked like dense red foam off the bottom. He began stuffing the foam up his sleeves, at which point Madeline burst out, "What are you doing? Go get him!"

As Fornell put a bag of red liquid in the breast pocket inside his jacket he spoke, "Stay here, and stay quiet." He left the room without saying anything else.

Fornell summoned Cedric and Lavender out of their rooms and quickly led them downstairs. They were halfway to the lab when something, or rather someone, jumped out at Fornell, knocking him to the ground.

"Get back there, Cedric!" Fornell shouted. He quickly checked to make sure Cedric had Lavender with him before throwing a weak, slow punch at the figure that had jumped at him. Fornell felt a knife dig into the padding in his sleeve, then saw crimson colored liquid pour forth from it.

As Fornell examined the rip in his jacket, he felt the knife go into the padding on his opposing arm. The FBI agent watched red spill onto the carpet around him and lowered his head to the ground, allowing his eyes to close.

Fornell heard his attacker bid him good bye, and then head toward the forensics lab. He waited with baited breath until he heard someone leave the Room of Requirement. Seven minutes later, he heard a muffled, distant knock from within the lab and let out his breath in relief. Everything had gone according to plan.

* * *

Gibbs stepped in front of his team once all of them had returned. "Tony, escort your guest upstairs. Check on Fornell and put Cedric and Lavender in the very back. Lock and barricade doors," Gibbs began barking orders. "Abby, Jimmy, Ducky, I want that place rigged as much as it can be. Colonel Mann, you take the Astronomy tower. McGee, second floor. Ziva, grounds. Jen, keep an eye on the dorm."

Jenny began rubbing her thigh as she asked, "Where are you going, Jethro?"

"Dungeons," Gibbs answered, reaching down to his ankle and pulling out his gun.

Jenny reached down as well. She grabbed a black band from around her ankle and slid it off her heel, pulling her weapon out of a compartment. "Circulation!" she sighed, kicking her leg a few times.

"Check in, thirty minutes," Gibbs told his team. "Go!"

"You're sending them out by themselves, Gibbs? McGonagall questioned. "He's clearly out, about, and thinks that you're playing a game!"

"Sometimes to catch someone you've got to play their game, McGonagall," Gibbs said, releasing the safety on his gun. "We'll handle it. Go to your office and _stay there_. I don't care what you hear or see. Stay!" Gibbs ran off before McGonagall made a reply.

* * *

"Tony!" Carlie complained, trying to pull her wrist free of Tony's grasp. "What's going on?"

"You, hush!" Abby snapped.

"Tony!" Carlie hissed again.

"I lied, alright?" Tony said irritably. "I'm not interested in dating at the moment. I'm a bit more interested in finding our killer, and you're linked to him!"

Carlie looked as if she wanted nothing more than to slap Tony. "No wonder you haven't got a ring! You're horrible!"

"Didn't I tell you to shut – Fornell!" Abby exclaimed.

The door to the Room of Requirement was wide open and Fornell lay just beyond the doorposts, blood surrounding him, the sleeves of his jacket slit at the forearm. Carlie put her free hand to her mouth and refused to move closer to the man on the floor, no matter how hard Tony tugged.

Ducky bent down and put his fingers onto the FBI agent's throat. "How long ago, Tobias?" Ducky asked quietly.

"Fifteen minutes," Fornell said quietly, hardly moving his lips.

Ducky ignored Carlie's gasp of shock. "The children?"

"Never went after Madeline. Cedric's been protecting Lavender in Gibbs' basement," Fornell breathed.

"When do we wake you?"

"After Ziva," Fornell answered.

Ducky stood up. "Nothing," he said sadly. "Come, come! Anthony, move him out of the way so we can shut the door. Carlie, if you'll be so kind as to follow Abby. Jimmy, please inform Agent Gibbs of what unfortunate thing we've discovered."

Abby seized Carlie and dragged her quickly to the lab as Tony grabbed Fornell under the arms and dragged him up against the wall.

"Ouch!" Carlie complained. "That hurts! What's going on here?"

"You tell me!" Abby hissed. "What's your nephew been up to lately?"

* * *

McGee walked around, letting his footsteps fall without care. He hit the edge of the hall and pulled out his phone. It could not be long now. He prepared the text and continued his patrol.

McGee quickly braced his mind as he heard a door swing open loudly behind him. He turned and saw black robes flying down the hall. The junior agent pressed "send" on his phone, then took off after the figure.

McGee began taking deep breaths as he found himself in the dead end of a hallway. This was it. He spun in a few circles, then walked forward. Something collided with the back of his leg and he fell to the ground.

McGee convincingly clutched his knee in pain and allowed his legs to be bound. He watched as his captor knotted the rope and slammed a door shut over it, keeping the fibers from sliding around or moving at all. McGee was only able to pull himself forward two feet before the rope jammed in the door allowed him to move no further.

A hand reached into McGee's pocket and took his phone. The junior agent watched the person in black robes walk to the end of the hallway. "I thought I had gotten my point across to you lot, but I was wrong." The figure lit a match and set a nearby curtain on fire. "You should have listened while you still had a chance." The figure turned its back to McGee and began walking away.

"Put that fire out!" McGee shouted, knowing it would do no good. "You'll burn the whole school down!"

McGee waited until he could not see any hint of black robes. He grabbed his belt buckle and pulled. The buckle doubled as a knife. "Note to self: thank Tony for letting me borrow his knife belt," McGee said to himself as he quickly cut the rope binding him to the spot.

For a moment, McGee considered trying to douse the flames beginning to spread throughout the hall. He soon came to the conclusion that doing so would ruin things completely, and so carefully crept through the halls until reaching the grounds.

McGee had a slight panic attack as he realized he was late and ran along the outside walls of the school until he was right under the astronomy tower.

* * *

Colonel Mann walked her loop once again, hoping he would come soon. Her feet hurt, and she was tired of everything. She had retired for a reason, and she missed that retirement.

Finally, she sensed someone in her shadows. Colonel Mann climbed the stairs of the tower, cursing her heels with every foot fall. She pushed the door open and left it that way as she walked to the edge of the tower. She breathed deeply and took in the beautiful sight while she could.

Hands were suddenly thrust into Colonel Mann's back and she tumbled forward and over the edge of the tower. She grabbed at the stones, her hand finally catching onto one. For extra support, Colonel Mann stuck her heel into a small gap. Suddenly she did not mind the extremely high heels. Her dress was more of a problem as the wind kept catching the skirts and trying to pull her off the wall.

Feeling audacious, Colonel Mann looked up at her attacker's masked face. "Disappointed?" she asked.

"No. You won't hold on for long," said a figure, still on the firm ground of the tower.

Colonel Mann felt the desire to drive her high heel through her own eye as she recognized the voice. She had seen him before, multiple times! He was always out of his dorm! How had she missed it?

Colonel Mann felt something greasy sliding over her hands and looked up once again.

"And I come prepared," he said, twisting the cap back on to a bottle of oil. He looked over the grounds for a moment before speaking again. "Look on the bright side. When you fall, you can pretend you're flying!" He turned and left, laughing like a maniac.

"I won't have to _pretend_ I'm flying," Colonel Mann said viciously after hearing the door close. She waited a moment to make sure he was gone before giving one short, loud whistle.

McGee came from no where, flying on a broom up to meet Colonel Mann.

"I thought I was too late when I got out here!" McGee gasped. "You were already hanging off the edge!"

Colonel Mann dropped off the side of the tower onto the back of the broom. "It doesn't matter, McGee! You're here now! Get us away before he goes after Ziva!"

* * *

Ziva trudged across the grounds. Her heels sank into the soil with every step and she had to pull them out continually. The bottom of her dress, which had once been sky blue like the rest, was now a combination of mud-colored brown and green from the grass. She did not dare look at her shoes. They had been her favorite, and to see them trashed would nearly break her heart.

The Israeli heard light steps behind her, and then a crunch of leaves. She pretended not to notice and made her way over to the lake. She stopped and pulled a heel off her shoe, then turned on the spot. As she had expected, a figure in black robes rushed at her. It tried to push her into the lake, but she resisted.

"Why can't you just take the hint and _die_?" the figure asked exasperatedly.

Ziva merely flicked the knife out of her heel in response. She resisted the urge to smile as the masked figure did. He had figured out her weakness.

Ziva tried to take stance as black robes came flying at her once more, but as expected, it was not enough. Her tight skirt did not allow her to keep balance very well and she fell into the lake. She managed to come up for one breath before something grabbed her leg and dragged her down.

The Israeli made a minimal fight, it would only waste what precious oxygen she had in her system. After a minute of being dragged down slowly, Ziva tapped the tentacle grabbing her legs and the giant squid released its hold. Ziva could have sworn it waved before it swam off. However, she did not have time to ponder the idea. She began kicking her way to the surface, though she quickly realized she was not moving fast enough.

Ziva took the knife in her hand and dragged it down the side of her skirt, leaving a long slit that allowed her legs to move freely. She kicked her way to the surface of the lake, took one breath, and went back down to swim to the opposite bank.

The Israeli quickly looked over the grounds and saw no one. She climbed out onto the banks of the lake and took several deep breaths, then put her knife-heel back onto the rest of the shoe and waited for her signal.

* * *

Remus Lupin's ears perked. From outside his door he heard several crackling sounds, and then something fall. Something was not quite right. He quietly moved toward his door, then flung it open suddenly, his wand at the ready. Instead of seeing someone trying to sneak about the castle, he was faced with a wall of fire.

Lupin's mind flung into action. The fire was at such a stage that it was spreading quickly, and he had no idea how long it had been doing so. _"Aguementi!"_ he shouted, pointing his wand at the orange monster raging in the hallway.

The flames directly in front of Lupin's office door began to diminish, revealing that its surviving parts were quickly consuming the entire hallway.

Lupin continued his work, managing to douse the carpets enough that the flames stopped moving forward. All he had to do was push the flames back. As the fire became less in greatness, it became quieter. And Lupin heard someone screaming.

Thrown into a panic, Lupin hurried his way toward the source of the screaming. It came from outside. He made his way to a window and saw the blurry outline of a small figure clinging to a loop of rope hanging from a statue, far enough away from the school's walls that the small figure would not be able to grasp the window ledge.

Lupin blasted the window open and got a closer look at the figure. It was a small girl, no older than seven. Terror and panic were clear on her tear stained face that was turned upward. Lupin followed the girl's gaze up to see Professor McGonagall leaning out her office window from above. She did not have her wand pulled out, which quite confused Lupin. He pulled out his wand, but a shout from above stopped him.

"No, Remus!" McGonagall called. "I've tried! She's already fallen two stories because of it! She's lucky she caught on that statue!"

Lupin pocketed his wand with an uncharacteristic swear. "What's your name?" he asked the girl hanging three feet out of his reach.

"Izzy," the girl said. "Izzy Morgan." She let out a yelp as her rope suddenly grew a foot, causing her to fall just that much.

"Is this the time for pleasantries, Remus?" McGonagall raged.

Lupin looked down briefly and saw that the windows below him were glowing orange. "Fire, Minerva! It's spreading!"

McGonagall looked at the windows two levels below, one level below, and then at the windows to her left. They all had orange behind them. "I'll take care of it," she called down to Lupin. "You get her down!" She disappeared from her window.

"Izzy?" Lupin asked the girl. She shook her head and did not look at him. She was too focused on the rope that seemed to grow longer or detach whenever she did something it did not like. "Izzy, do you know how to swing?"

Izzy continued to not look at Lupin, but she seemed to have caught on to his idea as she began swinging her legs forward and backward again and again.

Lupin waited with twitching fingers as Izzy made her way closer and closer to his reach. Finally, he was able to snatch her feet. As he did the rope she gripped somehow came loose of the statue it had been hanging on. Izzy let go of it and Lupin quickly took the rest of her weight safely inside the window.

Izzy wrapped her arms tightly around Lupin's neck and refused to let go. Lupin quickly moved away from the window and began running toward Dumbledore's office.

* * *

Professor McGonagall hurried through the halls. She was pleased to see Professors Sprout and Flitwick already out and battling the flames consuming the halls of Hogwarts. With their reassurances, she continued on her way up to Dumbledore's office.

McGonagall suddenly stopped and took a few steps backward, looking into the hallway she had just passed. A small shoe sat in the middle of the hall, an owner no where in sight. She made her way toward the shoe and saw that it was far too small to belong to any student at Hogwarts. She also found it odd that the shoe was untied and that there was much mud clinging to the sole.

"Merlin's beard," McGonagall said quietly to herself. She recognized the shoe. It belonged to Emily Fornell, who had long since left Hogwarts and was currently supposed to be no where near it.

McGonagall left the shoe where it was, knowing Gibbs would want to see it exactly where and how it had been left, and began looking at the rest of the hall. Her eyes landed on a red, speared handprint on the wall and her suspicions of something being wrong were confirmed. Under no circumstances was it normal for bloody handprints to be on the walls. The smear suggested that whoever had left it had been moving forward, and that was the direction McGonagall went.

Thirty feet later, there was another smear on the wall. McGonagall picked up pace. Every few feet she found another clue, telling her which way to go. Finally, all that was in front of the professor was a doorway with blood smears on the posts.

McGonagall drew her wand and cracked the door open, just enough to see what lay in the room beyond. The library had been closed for hours now, but a few lights were on, as always. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and Professor McGonagall quietly stepped inside and shut the door without a sound. Ever since she had first stepped foot in Hogwarts she knew that things were rarely as they seemed.

After creeping from aisle to aisle, McGonagall finally found what she had been looking for, though not in the predicament she had expected.

Emily Fornell was in the library, as McGonagall had feared, but she was not hidden. In fact, she was sitting in plain sight, holding perfectly still, hovering on a metal plate a foot above the ground. Her legs were crossed, and her arms rested on them. She hardly even blinked.

"I changed my mind," Emily said hoarsely. "I don't want to take Daddy's job."

Professor McGonagall thought about rushing forward and grabbing Emily, but reconsidered. Emily was not one for sitting still. The teacher squinted her eyes and looked at the shelves on either side of Emily to discover that the girl was not hovering at all. The plate she sat on was held up by semi-transparent wires elaborately rigged to the shelves. Should Emily try to move, several weights would fall down on the wires, causing the shelves to fall on and crush the small girl. The aisles of shelves were so long that Emily would likely not have the time to run to safety, either.

McGonagall looked down at her feet to see the same semi-transparent wires holding up Emily making a web from shelf to shelf. She felt grateful she had not gone and grabbed the girl. The shelves still would have fallen.

Suddenly, with a small pop, McGonagall disappeared and was replaced by a tabby cat, which slinked through a hole in the web. A moment later, McGonagall reappeared, running toward Emily. She drew her wand and uttered an incantation. The wires on both sides of Emily severed at the same time and she dropped to the floor. McGonagall held Emily down until the shelves collided and held each other up. The pair quickly ran out of the library before whoever had set up the plot heard the ruckus.

* * *

Jenny made no effort at being subtle. She walked the hall with the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room back and forth, waiting. It had been nearly an hour. Her hands had not been cooperative all week, but today they stung with pain and refused to move from their locked position on the gun. Jenny hoped desperately she would not need to fire her weapon. She was not sure whether her pointer finger would pinch down on the trigger or stay locked, hovering a mere half inch away.

Jenny became more nervous still when she heard a small ruckus within the stone walls. He was close.

Director Sheppard forced herself to walk at her normal pace and took deep breaths. She would not be let down. She was safe, even if she did not feel like it.

Jenny's arms suddenly felt very cold as the shawl that had been wrapped around them was ripped off. The Director tried to turn and face the thief, but found instead that her shawl had been twirled around her throat and she was being pulled backwards.

Jenny stepped back with her assailant. The time to fight had not yet come, but she was counting the seconds.

A gunshot rang somewhere in the halls, and Jenny threw her elbow back into the ribcage of her attacker.

The figure doubled over and released its hold. Jenny leapt back and pointed her gun at it. "Set!" she yelled.

Tony jumped out from around a corner, Ziva with him. He had taken off his tie and his once immaculately white shirt was now covered with what looked like red food coloring. Ziva's hair was wet and her pony tail weighted down. Her dress was half-dry, and one could clearly see where she had split the skirt.

McGee walked out from behind a portrait, a rope slung over his shoulders like some sort of odd trophy. He looked smug and concentrated at the same time. He drew his gun from the band around his ankle and pointed it at the figure's head.

Colonel Mann flew in on a broom, both legs swung over one side. Her elaborately done hair had become a knotted mess at the back of her head. Oil on her hands and arms reflected light off of them, and dark streaks could be seen on her dress where the oil had run down it.

The figure turned around, thoroughly flustered. It was met with the sight of Fornell, whose arms and back were covered in the red liquid that stained Tony's shirt. The sleeves of his jacket had clean cuts down the forearms on both sides, yet clean, untouched skin could be seen. "You tried to kill my little girl," he said dangerously. "That really wasn't a good idea."

The figure turned around once more to face not only Jenny, but Gibbs, who had walked in while his attention was elsewhere.

Gibbs looked terrifying in a very, very odd way. His suit looked as though it had not been touched. His shoes still shone, his tie was still done up. He was not sweating, nor was he wet and muddied. He had not even pulled out his gun. Gibbs did, however, look extremely satisfied as he said, "You're done."

The figure grinned a terrible grin as it whipped a remote out from up its sleeve. "You'd think I was done, wouldn't you, Jethro?" It pinched two of its fingers down onto two buttons. "Dead man's switch. Forefinger's for that whore's cousin. Middle finger's for your dear Emily."

Gibbs felt his heart skip a beat. Emily was not supposed to be a part of the plan at all.

"Oh ho!" said the figure ecstatically. "Look who's still a step ahead!"

"I'm not at all sorry to say that you're not as ahead as you think," said a voice. Remus Lupin came around the corner, a small brunette girl clinging to his neck. "I believe this is the cousin you were referring to? She's quite an impressive swinger, did you know?"

Before the figure could point out that Lupin did not have Emily, Professor McGonagall walked around the corner. Emily Fornell stood tall and straight, defiantly looking the figure in the eye, though keeping a white-knuckled grip on McGonagall's hand. She was missing a shoe, and the hand that hung at her side was red and shiny.

"Go ahead and release those fingers," Gibbs said smugly. "It won't stop what's about to happen." He nodded at Tony.

Tony pulled a pair of handcuffs off his belt and stepped forward. "Robert Neco, you're under arrest for murder, rape, assault of multiple federal officers, kidnapping – "

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter - "'Wipe that smile off your face.' Gibbs sounded so dangerous and angry that Neco actually listened. 'Beginning. Everything. Now.'"

Yes, I know it's been a while. I'm sure you don't want to hear my excuses, so I'll just say "Tada!"

Leave me a review even though I was mean and didn't update for a really long time, please?


	64. The End

Oh, gracious! I'm sorry for being such a pain and not updating regularly. I get to the end of stories and then I don't want them to end, so I don't want to write the last few chapters. -sigh-

Second on my list of things to talk about: Neco. He is, in fact, not completely random. You just had to be paying attention. :) He was in chapters 48 and 56. Someone actually guessed him. I forgot who, but I really want to hug whoever it is.

Anyway! Here's your update!

* * *

**The End**

Gibbs sat across an unmasked Robert Neco, arms crossed and leaned back in his chair. He studied the face of the young boy, who seemed to be just peachy with what was going on.

"Going to stare me to death, Jethro?" Neco asked.

"If I wanted to kill you, I'd do it in a much more painful and bloody way and you'd have been dead long ago," Gibbs said honestly.

"Oh, you want me to suffer. I see."

"Psychopath like you?" Gibbs queried. "I doubt you have the ability to feel pain."

"That's cold, Jethro," Neco said as if offended.

"Agent Gibbs," Gibbs said.

"I'm sorry?" Neco said silkily.

"To you I'm Agent Gibbs, not Jethro."

"I suppose I do have enough respect for you for that," Neco said. "It took you almost two months, but you found me."

"So you admit it?" Gibbs asked.

"Why would I deny it?" Neco answered Gibbs' question with another.

"Why wouldn't you? You know the consequences."

"I'm proud of what I did," Neco said.

Despite his efforts, Gibbs looked surprised. "Proud?"

"I've put up with six full years of Hufflepuff jokes. I've put up with six full years of hearing purebloods talk about how worthless Muggles are. I've given Hufflepuff a reputation of a House not to be messed with and proved that Muggles are stronger than thought," Neco said, sitting up straighter.

"You haven't done squat for Hufflepuff or Muggles," Gibbs said, pulling himself off the back of his chair and placing his hands on the table in front of him.

"I haven't?" Neco asked. "How much do you want to bet that there won't be anymore Hufflepuff jokes? How much do you want to bet that purebloods like Malfoy are going to keep opening their mouths now?"

"All you've done is alienate your house from the rest of the school and make Muggles seem like violent things that go around killing each other all the time," Gibbs said.

"You of all people know that killing happens all too often in your world," Neco argued.

"And it is my job to try to stop that from happening, and ensure that there are consequences when it does. And let me tell you, Mr. Neco, that you made me consider throwing that all down the drain. You made me consider becoming the biggest hypocrite I ever met."

"Did I?" Neco's interest perked. He leaned forward in his chair.

"I'd lay awake at night thinking of what'd I do when I finally caught you," Gibbs admitted. "If Emily had drowned, if Ziva hadn't come back, if Tony and McGee had been turned to ashes, if Jenny had died, if Abby had been poisoned or eaten, I would have killed you. Let's not pretend any different."

"Yet you set them all up to be killed tonight, and I'm still alive."

"We set up a situation you wouldn't be able to resist. You're not as smart as you think. After all that time, you think I'd let my people wander around on their own at night with no back up? You're pretty stupid, actually. Did you ever even check to see that I was in the dungeons?"

Neco began breathing heavily.

"You knew us before we came," Gibbs stated. "You knew about the way we work. With our reputation you didn't think we'd figure out a link with foreign insulin needles? You didn't think we'd find your accomplice's hair on the path of our missing agent? Hell, we've found your hide out!"

"That damn dirty whore!" Neco exclaimed. "She told you, didn't she?"

"You don't know much about your accomplice, either," Gibbs said. He flipped open a file. "Madeline Morgan. Father died when she was nine. Cost of the funeral started a bad trend for her mom. Madeline got into prostitution at fourteen when she found out about the financial crisis being hidden from her. One thing you ought to keep in mind about prostitutes is that none of them want to be in that situation. There's always a reason," Gibbs told a seething Neco.

"More recently," Gibbs continued, "she found another unidentified source of money. We have reason to believe that's you. How long have you been planning this?"

"I don't have to answer anymore of your questions, Agent Gibbs. I'm ready to go now."

"Sit down!" Gibbs barked as Neco made to get up. "The dementors are not here to get you yet. You walk out of that door and you walk into the fists of dozens of furious, grieving parents and siblings. I will do _nothing_ to protect you and neither will anyone on my team. So you can just sit down and answer the questions I ask you!"

"Oh, I think I hit a nerve," Neco said, sitting back down in his chair.

"You hit a nerve when you killed Pansy Parkinson on my watch."

"Pansy Parkinson was one of the stupidest girls I've ever met. She made it too easy. I couldn't resist."

"What are your excuses for Roger Davies, Samantha Madley, Cedric Diggory, Penelope Clearwater, Ginny Weasley, Ashley Mercent, and Padma Patil? Were all of them stupid, too? Or did you just develop an unquenchable thirst for blood?"

"You had challenged me, Gibbs. I wasn't about to back down," Neco said smoothly.

"Why did you start with Gavin McDonald and Lavender Brown?"

"McDonald would always talk about how proud he was of his Navy daddy. I took him out in the hopes that daddy McDonald would pull some strings and get you here. As for Lavender, she just came along for the ride, but I had to get her, too. I won't deny that was fun." A demonic smile slowly spread over Neco's face.

"Wipe that smile off your face." Gibbs sounded so dangerous and angry that Neco actually listened. "Beginning. Everything. Now."

"I tell you how I did it, you tell me how you did it," Neco negotiated.

Gibbs' eyes twitched as he stared Neco down.

"Fine," Neco sighed. "Halfway through last year, sixth year, I reached breaking point. I wanted people to just shut the hell up, and I knew they wouldn't do it without a kick to the gut. So I started working. I figured out who I wanted involved, who I wanted to get, and how I wanted to get them. Then I went home for the summer and did a hell of a lot of research and then a bit of bargaining to get a gun. I already knew Madeline had a 'summer job' due to a money pinch, so I started looking for her. When she came back from Australia I offered her money to help me. She took it, and I was set."

"Night you killed McDonald and raped Lavender. Go," Gibbs demanded.

"Slipped a note to McDonald during passing period earlier that day. I told him his roomie had been 'sneaking around' the past couple of nights with some girl from Ravenclaw. So McDonald, friend he wanted to be, went out to look for his friend and knock sense into him. I guess he took Lavender along to talk to the Ravenclaw I made up. I followed them. McDonald noticed and played hero; tried to hide his girl, the idiot. I shot him twice and then went for Lavender. She put up quite a fight, but was too weak in the end." Neco let out one chuckle and looked at Gibbs.

"Pansy Parkinson."

"Are you going to make me go through everyone, Gibbs?" Neco asked.

Gibbs only looked at Neco expectantly.

"I found Parkinson trying to sneak into the library, and I couldn't resist. I painted her a pretty picture in red and waited for her in the astronomy tower. Took a loose stone to her leg, and a knife to her arms. I got a lot of ink from that one." Neco smiled reminiscently.

"Stop being such an ass and get on with it," Gibbs commanded.

"Fine. Who was next? Davies? Called on Madeline. Davies had been drooling over her for two years. So she got him outside, and I took him from there. I'll admit he put up a decent fight, but he didn't have the brains to be successful in it," Neco said with a shrug. "Then Samantha Madley, right? She had just been annoying as hell. I did everyone a favor by getting her out of the common room."

"You haven't done anyone any favors!" Gibbs snapped. "The only person you have helped at all has been yourself."

"I beg to differ!" Neco argued.

"Then explain to me why you tried to frame Cedric Diggory, someone that trusted you completely."

"Someone had to take the fall so I could continue my work."

"So you forced him to kill Penelope Clearwater, scarring him for life, just so you could have a short break?"

"Actually, I wanted Diggory to kill the Granger girl, but he moved too quickly," Neco said.

"Did you think of what would happen when it was discovered that Cedric was innocent?" Gibbs asked.

"Ahh, but he wasn't innocent," Neco said. "That's the beauty of it all. I would have made the rest of the deaths look like tragic accidents."

"You don't think that'd look suspicious pretty quickly?"

"You'd have left by the time any of the accidents occurred. Who would investigate? The Ministry? Pah!"

"That brings us up to Ginny Weasley, Emily Fornell, and Officer David," Gibbs said, running over the last half of Neco's speaking with his own. "Why?"

"You were pissing me off, Gibbs. I had intended to only get David, but then those two were in the way. I think I was rather nice to not shoot them both in the head."

"There would have been hell to pay if you had," Gibbs said with a smirk. "Agent Fornell would have no problems with spending the rest of his life trying to figure out who killed his daughter. And then he would have his revenge. A man who's lost his family will stop at nothing."

"You'd know all about that, wouldn't you, Agent Gibbs?" Neco said with an arched eyebrow.

"Do you really want to try to make this even more personal, Mr. Neco?" Gibbs dared. He hardly paused before continuing on, "We'll come back to Director Sheppard in a minute. The bomb you planted was clearly meant to take out your biggest threat, us. Madame Hooch was a mistake. You meant to go after Miss Scuito."

"I knew almost nothing would hurt you more than to lose your dear Abby," Neco said. "I've already stated that you were pissing me off, and I thought it would be much more satisfying to see you take care of yourself than doing it myself."

"That's very wishful thinking. You seem to know a lot about me, Neco. Do you think I wouldn't have gotten through it?"

"You managed not to pull the trigger on yourself that first time, but I hoped that a second time would be too much," Neco admitted.

"I already got through the second time, as well," Gibbs said. "Abby would have been the third."

"Oh yes," Neco sighed. "Poor Kate Todd," he said apathetically.

"After Abby you went after DiNozzo and McGee."

"You were still making me angry. They weren't helping, either. They're near inseparable, so I got them both at the same time. And I was so close to taking out those meddlesome Gryffindors, too. Potter hasn't got anyone to tell him any different, but the Weasleys and Grangers really should have told their kids to mind their own business.

"Before you ask, yes, I killed Ashley Mercent and Padma Patil because they looked like the Weasley girl and dear Officer David. What can I say? I love a good show," Neco said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Now, you said we'd come back to Director Sheppard."

Gibbs actually smiled. "What I find amusing is that you made your biggest mistakes when you started going after my team."

"The only mistake I made was not killing them all right off the bat," Neco spat.

Gibbs smiled again, pleased at the turn of tables. "You managed to inject Director Sheppard with Dragon Pox. That was the worst thing you could have done for yourself."

"How's that?" Neco asked angrily.

"Abby traced the needles to a company in Australia that produces all sorts of things for diabetics. We started looking for people in the school with connections to a new diabetic in Australia. That was getting really tough, though. Without a name, the Australians were being rather reluctant to let any records go. Luckily, Agent DiNozzo found hair on Officer David's trail through the forest. We got Madeline's name, and because of that got her cousin's records. We had enough on her, but we knew she wasn't acting alone. That was also your fault."

"What? That you knew she wasn't acting alone? She very well could have been," Neco said.

"Tell me how that would have worked out with Lavender Brown as one of the victims," Gibbs requested, propping his head up on his hand. As Neco began breathing extremely heavily, Gibbs continued. "You thought almost everything through but that and the attack on Director Sheppard."

"How'd you get me out of the attack on Sheppard?"

"We had started thinking of ways to get Madeline to flip on you when Officer David traced the Dragon Pox. There are only two ways to get it: coming down with the disease yourself or taking it from someone who has. Your Aunt Carlie does a lot of work with Dragon Pox, and records show that you shadowed her at work for a week over the summer, just after Madeline got back from Australia. Some might call it coincidence, but I don't believe in that. The fact that you had easy access to Cedric's schoolbag, which had the knife that killed Pansy in it, didn't help you, either."

As Neco seethed at his failure and NCIS's success, Gibbs could not resist the urge to add, "Carlie was Director Sheppard's healer at St. Mungo's, actually. The only reason the Director was able to come back here. The world's just full of irony, isn't it?"

Neco let out a roar and flipped the table between himself and Gibbs over to the side. Gibbs remained unphased. He simply looked at Neco smugly.

"Your escorts to Azkaban will be here soon. Enjoy hell," Gibbs said as he rose and left the room.

Gibbs took a few steps into the hall before a small, blonde girl ran at him.

"Look, Jethro!" Emily Fornell said proudly, holding out her bandaged hand. "I'm going to have a scar!"

"Why do you want the scar?" Gibbs asked, lowering himself to Emily's level.

"Because every time I look at it I can remind myself that I beat him!" Emily explained.

Gibbs smiled. "You did a really smart, brave thing, Emily, you know that?"

"Daddy taught me," Emily said. "He told me to leave a trail if someone took me. So I did! That'll teach _him_!" Emily stuck out her tongue at the closed interrogation room door.

Gibbs straightened up and gave Emily a pat on the head. He looked at the end of the hall to see Tony, Ziva, and McGee approaching. Gibbs sent Emily skipping off and looked expectantly at his team.

"We would like to speak with Mr. Neco." Ziva said Neco's name as if it were a terrible curse.

Gibbs looked every member of his team in the eye in turn. Each of them looked determined and ready to argue. Gibbs left the hallway without responding.

"I don't care what that meant," Tony said. "I'm going."

"Me too!" McGee said.

Tony opened the interrogation room door and strutted through it, closely followed by McGee and Ziva.

Neco looked murderously at Ziva.

"Are you going to stare me to death?" Ziva asked in a mocking tone. "After all, your first attempt to kill me failed. It is about time you came up with another strategy."

Neco spat at Ziva's feet, which only made her smile.

"We wanted to tell you a little story, Robert," Tony said as turned the table back onto all fours and sat himself on the edge of it.

"Yeah," said McGee. "Once upon a time there was a man put in charge of several other people. He took his responsibility pretty seriously. He protected who he was supposed to, to the point where he was willing to do anything, to die, for them."

"Then there was this other guy," Tony started. "And this other guy got the bright idea to start messing with the man. This guy started going after the man's charges, trying to hurt them, killing innocent people in the process. The man thought it was his fault, of course. He started really beating himself up. He didn't sleep, he hardly ate, and, in trying to prevent more injuries of his charges, he received some pretty hard hits himself."

"The man finally caught the guy torturing him and killing people senselessly and had the guy set up to be locked away for a long, long time," Ziva picked up the story. "But that was not enough for the man's charges."

"This story sounds pretty familiar," Neco said dully. "I think I've lived it before, or something."

"Oh, things get a bit more interesting, Mr. Neco," McGee said with an odd, almost creepy, smile.

"I'm sure they will," Neco yawned. "It's getting confusing though. Why don't you just tell it to me raw?"

"Do you know what my worst fear is, Robert?" Tony asked. He waited a moment, and continued, though Neco had given no reaction. "My worst fear is losing a coworker. The entire time Ziva was missing and then when Jenny was in the hospital I thought I was going to lose my mind!"

"My worst fear," Ziva said, propped up against a wall with her arms crossed, "is failing to do my job, to serve and protect. Being isolated and incapacitated is the common thread in almost all of my nightmares."

"I fear serial killers more than just about anything," McGee admitted. "You start looking for them, and then they start to play sick, twisted, and horrible games with you. They're not right in the head."

"So congratulations," Tony said, putting a faux smile onto his face. "You made all our worst nightmares come true. Just to put the icing on the cake, though, you made us watch what we hate to see most. Did you know that?" Tony's eyes were wide, and the joking manner with which he behaved was more scary than amusing.

"The three of us don't usually agree on much," McGee said. "A few days ago, though, we found out that we, as a group, hate seeing Gibbs in pain more than anything."

"It takes true evil to reduce a man of great courage, bravery, and strength to a jittery, nervous, and uncertain child that cannot think of how to deal with the monster in his closet," Ziva said coldly and with a sort of snarl on her lips.

"I imagine you're actually proud that you managed to do such a thing," Tony said, leaning toward Neco. "Which is why I take joy in the fact that we beat you. We figured out your weaknesses, and we used them to give you enough rope to hang yourself. Having you walk right into our hands was a lot more satisfying than chasing and tackling you. You walked right into the trap we set."

"And now your life's over," McGee said. "You'll never graduate, never get a job, never get married, never have kids. You'll sit in a cell, fall into insanity, grow old before your time, and die."

"All your 'work' will go to waste," Ziva informed. "Hufflepuff will only be made fun of and repressed now more than ever. Prejudice between Muggles, wizards, and everything in between will never go away. When people think of your victims, they will not be happy they are dead. They will be sorry their lives were ended so abruptly and violently. Your name will become a terrible curse to be spat at. No one will honor you."

Neco seemed unsure of how to react to all he was being told. Though he tried to keep a calm face, Tony, Ziva, and McGee could see the cogs in his head turning furiously, and their sense of satisfaction grew.

"All you've done, Robert Neco, is screw over yourself, and everything you stand for, completely," Tony said with a brief, real smile. He hopped off the table and stood by the door.

"That gives you something to chew on for the rest of your miserable life," McGee said, strolling over to the door as well.

"I would get used to living your nightmares, Mr. Neco," Ziva suggested. "Where you are going, they never go away."

"Good bye, Robert Neco," Tony said with a wave as he opened the door for his colleagues.

"Forever," McGee said. "After you, Ziva," he offered.

Ziva neither looked nor acknowledge Neco as she passed him by and walked out the door. She nodded to Moody and Tonks, who were waiting. As the NCIS operatives left the room, the Aurors went in to escort their captive to his new "home".

Tony, Ziva, and McGee walked into the bullpen to meet their coworkers, whereupon Ziva hugged Gibbs. "The alarm clock finally went off," Ziva whispered into her boss' ear with joy. "That awful dream is over."

Gibbs waited until Ziva released him to look around. Jenny, Ducky, Jimmy, Abby, Tony, Ziva, McGee, Colonel Mann, Fornell, and even Emily were all there, smiling, hugging, and shaking hands.

"Pack your bags and say your good-byes!" Gibbs said loudly. "We're going home!"

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hey! Did I say I was done yet? Yeesh! When I'm done, I'll say so! Sorry to get your hopes up and everything... :P

I love reviews more than CHOCOLATE CAKE! You know what that means? That means I love reviews A LOT!


	65. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**_Almost six and a half months later – June_**

"Gibbs," Ziva greeted as she tossed her bag under her desk and sat down.

Gibbs looked over at Ziva briefly before taking a sip of the coffee he had become re-addicted to since returning from 'LA'. He had not bothered to correct anyone and tell them where he really had been from October to December. Who would believe him if he told the truth, anyway?

Tony entered the bull pen, looking rather sour. He threw his wallet into a drawer and then slammed it shut.

"Someone seems to be throwing a hissy fit," Ziva said.

"I'm not throwing a hissy fit, David," Tony snapped. "I found out where all my clothes went while we were 'working with Callen in Los Angeles'."

"Do you want me to ask?" Ziva queried after Tony did not elaborate.

"Some guy took it all and used a different outfit for each of his thirty-seven thefts."

"You have over thirty-seven different outfits?" Ziva asked. "I am a woman and I do not have that many!" She began laughing at her partner.

"Some of us care about the way we look, Ziva," Tony said through clenched teeth.

"You getting the clothes back, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't want them back," Tony answered. "They're contaminated with criminal germs!"

"Good morning, everyone!" McGee said cheerily, stepping into the bullpen and making his way to his desk.

"There's no reason to be chipper this morning, Probie."

"What's with you?" McGee asked his coworker across the bull pen.

Tony only twitched his lip and sat down at his desk.

"His clothes were used in a series of robberies," Ziva supplied.

"Bummer," McGee said unsympathetically. "I've got news that will make you happy, Ziva."

"You don't get to say something that will make Ziva happy until you can tell me something that will make me happy, McGee," Tony said, stepping up to McGee in order to get in the junior agent's face.

"WalMart's having a sale on suits this weekend," McGee said with an annoying smile.

"That's not funny, Probie."

"What news do you have for me, McGee?" Ziva asked.

"I got a letter from Professor Sprout this morning. You were right. Sirius Black is innocent."

"Oh, yes, I am aware, McGee!" Ziva said with a smile. "Flitwick told me all about it in the letter I got two days ago! He said I would have enjoyed the look on Snape's face."

"Did he tell you the whole story, though?" McGee asked, his eyebrows drawing together.

The smile slipped off of Ziva's face. "I would expect nothing less from such a man as Pettigrew. Nor would I expect anything less from Fudge. He is far more concerned with keeping his position than anything. I would not expect him to believe anything without hard proof, no matter how much sense the explanation might make without it."

"Hold the phone!" Tony exclaimed. "You keep in contact with your patrol partners?"

"Yeah, of course," McGee answered. "You don't?"

"Why am I just hearing about this now?"

"You must really be behind, DiNozzo," Ziva said, pointing a pencil at her partner. "Ducky and Madame Pomfrey write to each other. Abby even keeps up with Snape."

"Gibbs doesn't keep up with McGonagall!" Tony pointed out. After a pause, Tony looked over at his boss. "Do you, Boss?"

Gibbs reached over to the side and held up a folded piece of old fashioned parchment, complete with a wax seal and loopy, green ink.

"But that's impossible," Tony said in disbelief.

"Clearly it is quite possible, Tony," said Ziva, obviously enjoying the scene before her. "Professor McGonagall and Gibbs managed to depart on good terms."

"What must Madame Hooch think," McGee began wondering aloud. "She worked with the same guy every day for over a month and she hasn't heard one word from him since he left."

"Well, she was still feeling a little bit dizzy from the poison when we left," Tony began making up excuses. "I didn't want to bother her. The Weasley twins have my contact information though. They might share with Hooch."

"Tony! They are minors!" Ziva snapped.

"They're not going to send me stuff yet, Ziva! They're going to be business men, and want a contact in the US for when they're ready to spread."

"They don't seem like they'd be very efficient business men to me," McGee said.

"They're the reason Colonel Mann and our resident alien here are still alive, Probie," Tony objected while pointing at Ziva.

"They set up that broom?"

"What, you think I did it? I was busy tailing Neco with Gibbs."

"Then they arranged the thing with the giant squid, too. That was that '100% guarantee'," McGee said, making sense of it all.

"You did not know that, McGee?" Ziva asked.

"I stopped asking questions three weeks in, Ziva," McGee justified himself.

"Guess what!" said a bouncy voice, running into the bull pen.

"Abby!" Gibbs growled. "What are you doing up here?"

"I get to go back next year!" Abby squealed, handing a letter to Gibbs. "I've been invited to help with – " Abby paused and looked around before whispering, "the Muggle Studies class! Isn't it great?"

"Congratulations, Abby," Ziva said with a broad smile.

"Hey, maybe you should take Tony with you so he can apologize to Madame Hooch in person," McGee suggested with a quirk of his eyebrows.

"I don't have anything to be sorry for, McBigMouth," Tony said through clenched teeth.

"What'd you do, Tony?" Abby asked dangerously, stepping up to Tony.

"He has not said or written one word to Madame Hooch since he left," Ziva said, holding up a finger for effect.

"Tony!" Abby exclaimed, punching him in the shoulder. "That's not nice! You're going to send her something tonight!"

Tony rubbed his shoulder with a painful look on his face. "You're wearing rings, Abby."

"Well that's what you get!"

Gibbs picked up his phone, listened for a moment, and hung up. "Grab your gear! Dead Marine at Quantico."

Tony, Ziva, and McGee grabbed their bags, badges, guns, and followed Gibbs to the elevator.

"Tonight, Tony!" Abby called, holding up her ringed fist threateningly.

* * *

_Ziva,_

_Merlin's beard! As if the reasons for your visit hadn't been enough for one year, we caught Sirius Black, just four days ago! You'll be pleased to know, that he was, in fact, innocent. I'm sure you would have loved to have seen Severus's face upon gaining knowledge of such a thing. However, I'm sure he would also love to see yours upon your reading that, though Sirius is innocent, he is still 'a fugitive at large'. _

_You've heard everything poor Sirius was accused of. It was discovered by three acquaintances of yours, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Miss Granger, that an old friend of Sirius's was to blame. Peter Pettigrew went to school with Sirius, Remus, and poor James. For the past twelve years he had been in his Animagus form of a rat as the Weasley family pet. Yes, Pettigrew is an Animagus, as is Sirius! Naturally we were all astounded to find out that James, Sirius, and Pettigrew had become Animagi at school under our supervision, but that is not the point of this letter. _

_Pettigrew, as it turns out, committed all the crimes that we had been accusing Sirius of all these years. I'm still not at all sure how this happened, but it did. Remus, Potter, Weasley, Granger, and Sirius himself were so close to bringing Pettigrew in and clearing Sirius's name! As you know, however, a rat is a rat, is a rat, is a rat. Pettigrew slipped away at the last moment and no one has heard of him since. Sirius is still blamed for crimes he did not commit by the much larger part of the magical community. It is quite depressing to be sure. _

_Don't think things all bad, though. Sirius is a very clever man and will avoid capture quite easily. And while Pettigrew is a coward that will refuse to show his face, his comfortable life as a pet is over. He will now live just like any other rat or beggar on the streets, and he will not do so forever. The day will come when we will find him and clear Sirius Black's name!_

_I hope you and all your colleagues are doing well,_

_Filius Flitwick_

* * *

_Dear Agent McGee,_

_I've attached a recent newspaper clipping to this letter rather than write down everything. I will merely tell you that it is all wrong. Sirius Black was framed by his old school friend, Peter Pettigrew, who we all thought was dead. Pettigrew scurried away from us at the last minute and finding him again will be very difficult. While Dumbledore was able to explain every small detail of Sirius's frame-up to Minister Fudge, Sirius is still a wanted criminal. Fudge refuses to take any action in clearing the poor man's name without hard, cold proof. I think you know as well as I that it will be a long time, perhaps too long a time, before we can acquire such evidence. However, this is a topic that upsets me greatly, and I'd prefer it not to be mentioned again._

_It took a while, but Hogwarts settled back down after you left. Classes continued, students still sneak out of their dorms, there's still magic in the hallways, and pranks galore. It's almost as if nothing had happened to disturb the normal way of things. I consider this a positive. Hogwarts is strong enough to move on. We took our time to grieve, and now we show that we are quite unstoppable. _

_There has been a rise in interest in Muggle Studies and in crime fighting since students came back from Christmas Break. I believe you and your colleagues have helped us in more ways than any of us thought. This large interest is a huge step in the directions of our worlds understanding each other. _

_Tell me of what things the troublesome NCIS team has been getting into!_

_-Professor Pomona Sprout_

* * *

_Gibbs,_

_It has been quite a while and much has happened. I won't bother you with writing the past week's events down, as I'm sure you'll hear all about them from Agent McGee and Officer David, perhaps maybe even Miss Scuito. _

_I've only recently discovered that you managed to hide even more from me and the staff during your stay. I had the Weasley twins in detention a few days ago. They told me they had a hand in catching Neco! Would you care to explain this to me? Let me rephrase, as I know what your answer to that question will be. Tell me what part you had the Weasleys play in your scheme. Yes, scheme. It was a scheme that captured who needed to be captured, but a scheme none the less. _

_I'm positive you'll take interest in the fact that the Ministry has been keeping tabs on you and your team since your departure. You lot made quite an impression on Fudge and Umbridge when you dropped in for that ball. Before you ask, I have no idea why they are keeping track of you, nor do I have an idea as to why they would wish to do such a thing. I'll readily admit to being glad you're gone, help though you may have ended up being._

_Miss Brown is recovering quite well, as are Mr. Diggory and Miss Madley. Brown and Diggory have expressed wishes to return to school next year. Miss Weasley took no time to come back at all, and returned to classes at second semester. The Madley family, unfortunately, have taken up residence in France. The Madley children will now attend Beaxbatons, another school of our kind. Be thankful you were called to Hogwarts rather than Beaxbatons. I'm sure you would have snapped the necks of a few of those little high maintenance darlings._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor McGonagall_

* * *

_McGonagall,_

_I did hear all about your past week. Let me know when Pettigrew's been caught and Black cleared. I love hearing about cleanups that I don't have to do paper work on._

_I didn't ask the Weasley twins to do anything in that 'scheme'. They volunteered themselves to DiNozzo, and we took them up on their offer. You should be proud of your Gryffindors. If they hadn't done such a good job we would have lost at least two people before we came home._

_Director Sheppard said she's still having to deal with Minister Fudge, though she's assured me that the Ministry won't be keeping tabs on my team any longer. Believe me when I say that she was angry to hear about it, and that it has been taken care of. Jen's not one to mess around with._

_Keep a close eye on Lavender and Cedric next year. Make sure they get help if they need it right away, and let them know that they can come to the staff if need be._

_As for Beaxbatons, those 'high maintenance darlings' can't be worse than anyone we've dealt with before. Beaxbatons probably has a more agreeable staff than Hogwarts, at least._

_Enjoy your vacation time,_

_Gibbs_

_P.S. If anything happens to Abby when she visits next year, I'll come back and deal with the issue personally._

**Author's Note**

Here we are, 492 pages, 7,176 paragraphs, 150,313 words, 1 year, 1 week, and 1 day later, finally finished! Thank you SOOOOOOO SO SO SOOOOOOOOOOO much for sticking with me! I've really enjoyed reading all your reviews and writing this story for you. I'll miss you all a lot, but keep your eyes out. I'm not done writing stories yet. You can't get rid of me that easily!

I'll give you double thanks and an e-ice cream cake if you leave me one last review! :)


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